


How to Annoy the Goddess of Love

by merines



Category: Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: I am just adding characters as they appear, M/M, some roles are bigger than others
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2017-11-24 08:16:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 68,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merines/pseuds/merines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes quests go very wrong. Or very right, depending on how you look at it or who you ask.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We Ruin Our Perfect Records

**Author's Note:**

> A few things. First, this is the first time I've written fic in like, years. I mean, I wrote drabbles and stuff but those were for specific people, so this is my first fanfic intended for a big audience for a while. Second, this is my first time writing for PJO, so there might be some off characterization. Third, this is the first time I've written porn like this in a very very VERY long time. So I apologize for like, everything. In any case, I hope you enjoy this! If you don't then, oh well, it was fun writing it either way!

If you were to ask Percy Jackson what was the strangest thing that had ever happened to him, you'd have to brace yourself for one very long and confusing conversation.

He might mention when he first discovered his godly heritage, and how his mother—the most perfect woman in the universe, thank you very much—disappeared right in front of his eyes. Or the time when he was turned into a guinea pig, or when he tricked killer dolphins into thinking his friend was a god,  _or_... Well, basically, his life was pretty damn weird. Picking out a singular instance that outshone the rest would take a lot of thinking, and Percy had never been the type to just sit around and carefully analyze things. He liked to jump into things head first, much to the annoyance of everyone else ever who had to later deal with the consequences. Yeah, sure, he was pretty good at coming up with battle strategies, but all of his best work sprung out of last minute scrambling.

To put it more bluntly, it would take the moment hitting him in the face like a freight train for Percy to go, "Oh, yeah, now  _that_ was super weird!"

Months had passed since the defeat of Gaea, and unsurprisingly, no one thought to give the demigod a break from quests. In fact, he seemed to be getting them more often. Apparently saving the world multiple times meant that the gods were free to throw every tiny task at his feet. The other six from the prophecy were on the same boat as him (both literally and figuratively, considering the Argo II) but Percy got it extra bad. It probably had to do with his lack of filter when it came to addressing the higher beings. Unlike everyone else, he had no problem with pointing out that a god was wrong, which usually ended in them trying to vaporize him. And when that failed, they just resorted to holding grudges that would last a millennia.

He was currently on one of those quests; Aphrodite had gotten into a spat with Artemis, and now Percy had to recover some lost item or other, blah blah, the amount of times the gods lost something was getting ridiculous. Jason and Grover both accompanied him; he was admittedly a little bummed out that Annabeth couldn't make it since she was on some diplomacy mission at Camp Jupiter. Still, he trusted the two guys with his life. Grover was his best bud, of course, and Jason was... well. Admittedly, the two still had those weird macho, testosterone battles that made the girls groan and Leo and Frank exchange money. They couldn't help it! Both were considered leaders, and held a hefty amount of accomplishments under their metaphorical belts. No matter how chummy they became, there would always be that small voice in their heads going, "So who's better?"

Actually, that voice grew louder as they became better friends. Percy tried not to think about it too much.

After about a week of traveling, they located the missing item. It was wrapped very tightly in gold cloth, and they were warned by the goddess of love not to peek inside. Not wanting to get on her bad side, they all heeded her. Now the trio were wandering around Nebraska—at least, he thought it was Nebraska. They were kind of thrown through the air after being attacked by some pretty nasty wind spirits. No one  _ever_ listened to him when he said that air travel was a terrible idea. Why did no one remember Zeus was not a member of his fan club? Anyway, one minute they were happily cruising through the skies and the next they were swallowing dirt on some abandoned road in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, that was pretty typical of quests, but it still majorly sucked. Grover thought he smelled enchiladas, so he ran off to locate the (depending on who you asked) delicacies while the two demigods watched over camp.

Jason sat next to their small fire, constantly checking over it to make sure it didn't go out. It was times like these where Percy appreciated Leo a lot more, but there was no use complaining over that. The Roman would occasionally glance away from the flames, scanning through the darkness for the return of their companion. Percy had to admit that Jason looked much more professional than he did, with his neatly cut hair and muscular build. Percy looked as if he had just been through a hurricane (which wasn't that off) with his hair pointing in every direction and his shirt missing a sleeve after an unfortunate encounter with a drunk cyclops. Long story.

But if someone were to give the two guys a look, they would probably conclude that Jason was the leader. And that annoyed Percy, since it was technically his quest. It wasn't his fault that the younger demigod had lost less pieces of clothing throughout their current adventure! Or that Jason had a lot more time to get in shape than he had. Hell, Percy was in  _amazing_  shape. He was just more lean than well built, but that suited his fighting style better. He wasn't even sure why he was even fussing over something like this. It was dumb and immature and, man, he would love to have a spar right now.

"Percy?" Jason's voice cut him out of his thoughts.

"Uh?" Percy cleverly replied.

The younger demigod frowned, as if he was puzzling over something that he just couldn't figure out. "Care to tell me why you're strangling that stick?"

 _Stick?_  Sure enough, when Percy looked down at his hands, he held a twig that was practically snapped in half. Laughing nervously, he chucked it over his shoulder. "I don't think Grover is going to be back anytime soon, and I'm bored. Wanna train?"

Now, Jason was much more uptight than Percy was. It was the whole Roman thing—they were big sticklers for rules and unity and all that fun stuff. But he did share many qualities with the son of Poseidon as well. The opportunity of a fight formed a smile on his face, which made the small scar on his upper lip more apparent despite the dark night. Jason stood, picking up his sword from the ground and faced his companion.

"We don't want to get rusty," Jason agreed. He did give the area a cautious look over, checking to see if there weren't any monsters or mortals in viewing distance. The monsters they could easily handle, but the Mist might make the latter think they're witnessing two teenagers murdering each other. Percy was sadly well aware of how much trouble the Mist could make for a demigod. When everything seemed clear, the two got into position.

Jason was, without doubt, Percy's favorite person to fight against. They were evenly matched, which either got on his nerves or elated him. But the clang of bronze against gold that sent vibrations through his fingers, and the pain that would shoot up when he failed to dodge correctly—those small aches and stimulations were what he craved for. While killing monsters was a thrill, there was just something about battling another person that just made his heart hammer in his chest and his adrenaline burn.

The rush came to a stop when Jason miscalculated a dodge and stepped back a little too far, and onto a small parcel that sat near their bags. A shared look of horror appeared on their faces, and Percy and Jason began to do the only option left to them: Freak the hell out.

"Oh gods," Percy said, dropping Riptide to pull at the ends of his hair. "We broke it. We broke Aphrodite's—what was it again?"

"That doesn't matter," Jason said. He was doing his best to remain calm, but he couldn't hide his look of dread. "This isn't good, Jackson. I... I've never failed a quest before."

Percy let that sink in. His perfect record was also now ruined, and he took a moment to properly grieve it. But, again, that wasn't the real issue here. Their actual problem was the fact that Aphrodite had suddenly appeared right in front of them, and wow, they were going to die. Jason quickly rose to attention to greet the goddess, but Percy was still stuck in, "I am about to be turned into something fluffy and cute then roasted over our campfire" mode.

"Hello," the goddess said coolly. The two teens mumbled an appropriate reply. She either did not mind the unceremonious welcome, or she was so ticked off that she didn't notice. Percy hoped it wasn't option B.

"Usually when we send you off on quests," she continued, "we expect the item to be returned in one piece. Apparently I misplaced my faith when I chose you to locate it for me."

"We're, uh, really sorry," Percy said. The "Please don't make me into a pet dove" did not need to be added.

Jason nodded. "What we did was really dumb, and I can't even begin to let you know how horrible we feel. We'll do anything to make this right again."

Percy raised an eyebrow.  _Anything_  was pushing it, but he understood that they were in a pretty desperate situation. The demigod was no expert on mythology, but he knew well enough that when you failed a god, bad things were sure to follow. So he managed to keep his mouth shut, and try his best at making puppy eyes at Aphrodite. She always did have a soft spot for him, after all, and he really hoped that trend would continue.

"You don't have to do anything," she said sweetly. Maybe too sweetly, but the boys were too shocked to notice. Percy resisted the urge to go for a high five. Aphrodite continued: "You tried your best, and that's enough. I have a date with Mars, so I'll see you two later. Ta-ta."

They shielded their eyes as she returned to her full godly form and disappeared. After a few seconds, they realized that they were definitely still in one piece and let out sighs of relief. Percy collapsed next to where the broken parcel once stood. It had disappeared along with the beautiful goddess. "I thought she was going to maim us."

Jason still stood on edge, but he smiled lightly. "Me too. It was a little... too easy though."

He was right. There should have been no way they escaped from that scenario without some form of punishment. After casting a nervous look around, they decided to go to bed and sleep until Grover returned. He was taking a lot longer than Percy thought he would, but thanks to his empathy link to the satyr, he knew that his friend wasn't in any danger. In fact, Grover probably would be better if he stayed away for a little longer. Who knew what might happen?

 

* * *

Jason's face was way too close.

That was the first thought that crossed Percy's mind when he sleepily opened an eye. The blond's body was only inches away from his own, and Percy could feel his breath on his neck. It sent shivers down his skin. Percy sat up, still stuck in that daze where you're still too groggy to process anything correctly. He was sure that they had fallen asleep on separate sides of the campfire. Yet, lo and behold, they were now practically snuggling. Could Jason have gotten up and moved closer to him? The idea was so ridiculous it almost made Percy laugh. Something else had to be going on.

He looked over the sleeping figure for any sort of clue, and was struck at how... well. Attractive Jason was. It was something he never thought about before, but considering how many girls fawned over him at both Camps, Percy knew it was true. There was something about his jawline that was especially enticing—whoa. Okay, no. This was starting to get weird. He shook the thought out of his head, and started to rise to move to a different spot. Instead he found himself leaning over Jason's sleeping form, quietly studying his features. His palms were sweaty, and his heart was beating rapidly, like it had during their fighting match from earlier. It didn't make sense, why was he acting so strangely?

Jason eyes opened, and Zeus should have smited Percy for how high he flew into the air from shock. The literal kind of shock, mind you, considering Jason hit him with a current of electricity. Percy groaned as he hit the ground, but he was quickly back on his feet. Never stay down when you're knocked over, unless there's a strategical advantage to it, of course. The two demigods stared at each other; one was alert, while the other looked extremely lost and out of it. After a moment, Jason managed to snap out of his tired state and stood.

"What were you doing?" the son of Jupiter demanded. Any trace of his sleepy stupor was gone; Jason was in full Roman mode now. "Wait, didn't I go to sleep over there?"

So Percy wasn't going crazy. Or maybe he was? He still couldn't shake that odd feeling he got when he was so close to Jason. It was like something was urging him to pull closer, to—who knows. Whatever it was, Percy didn't understand it. He had to get to the bottom of it before anything else weird happened, like how he was now closing the distance between the of them and pressing his lips against Jason's, and  _what?_

No, that definitely did happen. He grabbed onto Jason's collar and pulled him in, their mouths clumsily mashing against one another's. It was rough and extremely awkward, and after a few seconds Percy broke the kiss himself. His face felt like it was on fire, and he briefly wondered if he was a descendent of Hephaestus when Jason climbed on top of him.

That was inaccurate. Jason actually pushed him down onto the dirt, and  _then_  straddled him. Percy gaped, unable to keep up with what was going on. He kissed Jason, who now sat on top of him and was... also kissing him. It wasn't as rough as the initial one, but there was a tenacity that echoed his fighting style. And soon enough, Percy was kissing back, equally as determined. Determined to do what was the question though, and neither seemed to have any real idea as to what the answer was. Not that Percy could concentrate on that, though, as Jason's hands had slithered under the Greek's shirt. They traveled upwards until they found his nipples, and Percy soon discovered the delightful feeling of having them massaged and tugged. Not being one to be outdone, Percy's own hands gripped Jason's ass and he dug his nails into them. Despite the material in between them, Jason still smirked.

The smirk disappeared for a second as Jason knit his eyebrows together in confusion. He looked to be questioning what the hell they were doing, and while Percy shared the sentiment, he couldn't help but continue. He just felt like he had to, and he wasn't exactly sure why. He broke off the kiss and went for that jawline he had been admiring earlier. Percy kissed the skin, sucking at it in places where Jason seemed the most sensitive. Soon the Roman's shirt blocked any further progress, and with an annoyed growl Percy tore it off of him. While Jason was caught by surprise, Percy also managed to flip their positions so he was on top. He pinned the younger teen's arms down so he wouldn't try to reverse it, and then continued down his path. Once he reached Jason's navel, however, it began to dawn on him that he was way too close to the dude's assets. He sat up straight, and questioningly looked around as if the answer to what the hell he was doing would come leaping through the field at him.

"What is it?" Jason sounded impatient.

"I dunno," Percy answered. While he really wanted to continue with what was happening, there was still a sane part of him that reminded him that he was currently cheating on his girlfriend with Jason goddamn Grace in what may or may not be Nebraska. It almost made him want to punch himself in the face, and he probably would have done it too if Jason hadn't leaned over and once again captured Percy's lips in his. They battled for dominance, with Jason's hands yanking at Percy's dark hair. But there was no way he was going to let Jason win.

And so, Percy slid his hand down Jason's pants. The blond momentarily stopped, his eyes widening, and Percy knew they both shared a thought of, "Oh gods, what is happening?" But Percy stuck his hand inside the teen's boxers, and had a small moment of panic when he realized that he was now touching another person's dick. It was hard, much like his own, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was touching someone else's thing. Knowing that he seriously could not back out of it now, he slowly slid his hand down Jason's shaft and back up again. He did it a few more times in that careful, experimental, pace but when Jason let out a few moans of approval he began to pick up the pace.

Jacking someone else off was a rather unique experience, but the sensation of Jason squirming against his skin was more than enough to keep Percy going. He felt himself throbbing in his pants, aching for a little attention, but he ignored it to concentrate on his fellow demigod. Jason writhed on the ground, his blue eyes cloudy. Every now and then he sent small shocks into Percy, which the son of Poseidon figured was a good thing. Percy went back to kissing Jason's neck, and he worked very hard to make sure marks were left. He wanted to make sure that some piece of him was left on the blond, some kind of territorial mark so other can know that he had claimed him. Which was a crazy thought, considering he didn't want anyone to ever know what was going on.

After one last stroke, Jason came into his lover's hand. Percy laughed against tan skin, and brushed his lips lightly over a collarbone before returning to eye level with Jason. There was a distant look on his face, as if he still hadn't recovered from what just occurred, but Percy couldn't blame him. He  _did_  just receive a handjob from a guy who was not his Native American girlfriend. Percy apparently miscalculated just how out of it he was, though, because Jason suddenly had him pinned to the ground.

"Your turn," Jason said, his voice ringing with authority. Before Percy could even think of a way to protest (not that he would) Jason pulled down both his jeans and his underwear. Having your bare bottom pressed against dirt was not an experience he would recommend to anyone, but Percy didn't have time to think too much on that. Jason had moved his face to Percy's thigh, kissing it gently. The closer he got to Percy's erection, the harder he pressed against the flushed skin. Percy let out a moan that was way too embarrassing for his liking, and he stared hungrily at Jason, waiting for what would come next.

No pun intended.

Jason's mouth brushed lightly against Percy's shaft, and it sent a shudder throughout his body. Yeah, he wondered what it would be like to get a blowjob, but he figured that if the day ever came it would be with a different blond. He wasn't exactly complaining when Jason began to suck, sometimes gently, and other times with his teeth. Percy knew that the Roman was doing it on purpose, to mess with him, but all he could really do to protest was dig his nails a little too deep into Jason's back. Jason fell into a rhythm, allowing his friend's cock to go as deeply into his throat as he could manage before pulling out again. In a blind moment of pleasure, Percy thrust his hips, causing Jason to choke. His reply was biting down a bit before going back into his rhythm of sucking. His fingers played with Percy's balls, squeezing and massaging them as he deep throated their owner.

He came, filling Jason's mouth with his warmth. Jason sputtered, pulling away and spitting it out in such an undignified motion that Percy laughed out loud. Jason glared down at the older guy, but then grinned and kissed him. It was pretty disgusting, as Percy never wanted to know what his own junk tasted like, but he still kissed back. They stayed like that for a while, only breaking a part to gasp for air and mutter things like, "What?" and other sexy phrases. Percy was just about to pull Jason's pants fully down when a voice behind them interrupted.

"Is this a bad time?" Aphrodite sat a small table and chair that magically appeared along with her. She calmly sipped out of a cup, watching the two of them play tongue tango with great interest.

The two demigods froze, looked at each other, and then made a mad scramble to untangle themselves. After what felt like way too long, the two stood facing the goddess, their faces bright red. It took another few seconds for Percy to realize his thing was still exposed to the world, so he hastily pulled up his jeans. Aphrodite merely drank her tea as if this was something she saw all the time. And considering what her domain was, Percy was pretty sure that she did.

"I think we all had a lot of fun, don't you?" she said brightly. She then gestured at a plate of cookies on the table. "Want one? You burned a lot of calories, so you should probably have a bite."

Realization of what had happened began to dawn on Percy, and his embarrassment turned to rage. No wonder the goddess was so forgiving earlier—she had something planned all along! A plan that included... er. He preferred not to think too much about it, especially given that he still wanted to rip off the rest of Jason's clothing. The other demigod appeared to have figured it out as well, because his face was now a shade of green that did not compliment his features.

"You—you made us do stuff!" Percy shouted. "I have Annabeth, and I... Holy crap, what did I do?"

The yelling irked Aphrodite, but thankfully she just put her cup down instead of angrily blasting any demigods that happened to be in the vicinity. She let out a drawn out sigh, as if she had gone through this conversation many times before (again, she probably has). "The two of you are always so eager to fight each other, so I decided to let you do a... ah, different kind of battle. You did quite well, I actually blushed."

"That's not fighting! That's—" Jason started, but he was unable to describe what exactly it was that they did. That, or he didn't want to.

"Tsk," the goddess said. "Love is war, so what you did was exactly that. Speaking of war, I honestly do have a date with the god of it. I hope you two have learned to not break my things." And with that, she disappeared, along with her table and chair. Percy didn't even get to try a cookie.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence. Percy wasn't sure about Jason, but he still wanted to continue where they left off. But the knowledge that it was all Aphrodite's revenge was a real turnoff, so instead he awkwardly stared at his feet. Jason concentrated on staring at the direction where Grover had ran off to hours before.

Oh, shit. Grover.

The satyr now approached, singing happily and holding what appeared to be a gigantic enchilada. Well, that's weird. The two demigods began to quickly clean themselves off while trying to not come off as suspicious to their returning friend. When Grover was finally near enough, he broke into a wild grin. "I found an enchilada festival! Oh, it was so great. I was going to come back to get you guys, but then I ran into a group of nymphs and..."

He paused, and looked at each of them. Percy forced a smile on his face, and Jason tried to laugh but it came out more as a whimper. Grover frowned, and gingerly set his giant meal aside. "Is something wrong? The two of you smell weird."

"Hey, I have an idea!" Percy interrupted. "Why don't you tell us more about that festival?"

And to Percy's relief, Grover happily obliged.

* * *

 The rest of the journey back to Camp Half-Blood was long and awkward as hell. Grover knew something was up, but after the first few failed attempts at initiating conversation, he gave up. Percy felt bad, but there was no way anyone was going to find out about the little escapade in Nebraska. Hell, he wished he was out of the loop as well.

The thing was, he wasn't exactly sure if Aphrodite's spell had completely faded. After the first night, Percy no longer wanted to ride Jason into the sunset. But there was still a pang in his stomach when he looked at him, and a sort of longing that he only felt for a very small amount of people—all girls—that wasn't there before. He wanted to ask Jason about it, but the two had made a silent pact to never bring up what had occurred again. Sometimes Percy worried that he was the only one affected in that way, but he would occasionally catch Jason staring a little too long at him. Percy didn't know if they were still experiencing the effects of it, or if it had just opened the door to something else. But one thing he did know for sure: He couldn't do anything about it.

One night, a couple of weeks after the incident, Percy found Jason sitting next to the lake. He almost turned around the way he came, but that was dumb. He couldn't hide from his friend forever. So he sat down next to him, and thankfully Jason nodded instead of running away screaming. That made Percy feel somewhat better about things.

"This sucks," Jason said.

Understatement of the year, but Percy smiled anyway. "Apparently it's not the only thing that does."

The remark earned him a punch in the gut, but Percy knew he deserved it anyway. He rubbed his sore stomach, and was about to apologize for it when instead he felt himself pulled into another kiss. Percy momentarily panicked, wondering if there were any peeping goddesses nearby or, even worse, girlfriends. But he soon forgot about that and kissed back. It was pretty chaste compared to the ones from before, but he enjoyed it a lot. Sometimes things were better when they were just kept simple.

"That was the last one," Jason said when he pulled away. He looked pained, as if he had to fight himself in order to give Percy that kiss. He probably did. "I like Piper. A lot. And I don't ever want to hurt her, and I know you feel the same way about Annabeth. I just... I don't know. I needed closure, I guess. I kept thinking back to what we did, and it made me mad. And ashamed. But I liked it. I guess I just wanted you to know that."

Percy's emotional response was gaping and nodding like an idiot. When he finally managed to pull himself together, he replied: "Me too. I don't know if Aphrodite is still messing around or not, but... Thanks. For saying something. And the kiss, I guess."

They laughed. Even if nothing would ever come from the experience, Percy was glad that it was with Jason. Er, not that he was glad that he got to fool around with Jason specifically, but—it was best not to think about it too much. He leaned lightly against the Roman, and they sat like that until dawn approached. Together, with the other as support.

If you were to ask Percy Jackson what was the strangest thing that had ever happened to him, the only response you'd get will be his nervous sputtering before he runs away.


	2. I Stop Trusting Redheads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy realizes that having a crush sucks, and the receptionists of the gods suck even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be a one shot, but support I received from readers and some ideas made me change my mind. There's nothing sexual in this, but I hope you still enjoy it.

Life went on normally.

Or as normally as it could be for a demigod. The amount of quests given by the gods refused to lighten up, and it was even beginning to affect the other residents of the camps. Everyone was either running around in an effort to prepare for a quest or returning from one, bruised and exhausted. Mount Olympus was either having some serious problems, or they were all just being lazier than usual. And knowing them, it could be either option.

Percy honestly didn't complain as much about it anymore. Yeah, he was tired. And yeah, he just wanted some time to go out and visit his mom. But the constant stream of activity kept him busy, and the busier he was the less he would think about certain things. Certain things like a younger male with rough hands and a large—okay, stop there. He really had to stop his thoughts from going there again. That was exactly the reason he liked to be on the move all the time. Running from and slaying the murderous monster of the week sent him on autopilot, and the demigod would be able to take care of business without fretting over the mistakes of the past. And boy, they were some mistakes.

His relationship with Jason had returned to what it had been. At least, for the most part. Every now and then Percy would catch himself staring a little too long at the son of Jupiter, and he'd have to quickly turn away before someone noticed. It was something he would berate himself for; after all, Annabeth was his girlfriend. A girlfriend he cared about a lot, and some weird... whatever the heck that was with Jason shouldn't— _wouldn't_ —change that. And on top of all that, he wasn't even sure if Jason was even conflicted about it anymore. Sure, they kissed that one time at the lake, but the other demigod gave no other indication that he was even remotely interested afterward. There was no longing glances from him, or any sort of awkwardness at all. It was like he had successfully tucked away any sort of feeling other than friendship.

Which was, technically, a good thing. Percy had to remind himself of that. The fact that he was even still fretting about this stuff was what was really worrisome here, not whether or not Jason might have a crush. He wondered if Aphrodite's spell affected him more than it had his companion. That would explain why he seemed to be the only one still worked up about it. And the goddess did love it when romances ended in tragedy, so only having one member of the party still act dumb would definitely amuse her more than having both of them do so. If he thought about it from that perspective, it did make a lot of sense. He wasn't happy about it and had to force himself not to go to Olympus to strangle the goddess, but at least there was a logical reason for it. As logical as Greek mythology can get, anyway. All he had to do was figure out how to actually solve the problem.

And that was another problem. Annabeth was normally the one he went to when issues would arise. But he couldn't exactly approach her with this one. What would he say? "Hey, I love you and all, but I accidentally messed around with Jason two months ago and now I can't stop picturing him naked. Any advice?" Yeah, because that wouldn't end horribly at all. No, he had to figure this out in some other manner. He'd just have to get creative about it. The question was, who could he ask that wouldn't A) get suspicious or B) mention it to anyone else? Grover wasn't an option; the satyr still looked at both boys as if he knew something was up, but he couldn't quite piece the situation together. The thought of getting Chiron involved made him uncomfortable beyond belief, Hazel and Frank were currently at Jupiter, Leo was on a quest with some people from his cabin, and Piper was as involved with the issue as Annabeth was. With all of this in consideration, there was only one person he could approach.

So Percy found himself heading to the Oracle's cave that his friend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, sometimes called a home. She had just settled back into camp a week before, and Percy almost went to her then. He managed to talk himself out of it; what if she started to glow green and gave some sort of prophecy like, " _With your love life you are out of luck / Enjoy your life as a monk_ ," or something? But he was getting desperate, and he knew that even if she suspected something from it, she would trust him enough not to tell. He definitely needed that right now.

"Rachel?" he called out, poking his head inside the cave once he reached it. Apollo seriously pulled all the stops to make sure his Oracle was comfortable. Hell, it looked nicer than Percy's own cabin. Rachel sat on a large beanbag chair as her big screen showed some Johnny Depp movie. She sat up when she heard his voice and stretched.

"Hey," she replied, "ever heard of knocking?"

Oops. Percy hastily knocked once before letting himself fully enter. The action got him a snort in reply, which he took as a good sign. Rachel didn't actually appear to be annoyed at the intrusion. He settled on another chair next to hers, and tried to figure out where to begin. He had decided to get her help, but he wasn't exactly sure what to tell her. He didn't feel comfortable telling her the full story, especially without Jason's consent. He had to start somewhere though. "I need your, uh, opinion on something."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? If it's gift advice, then I know that Annabeth is looking at this one pair of earrings..."

"What? No. I mean, feel free to tell me about that later, but this is about something else." So far so good, he mused. Now to be as smooth as only Percy Jackson could be. "I was wondering about when gods curse people. Hypothetically speaking, if one of them put some kind of spell or charm on a person, how would they go about getting rid of it?"

"Hm," Rachel looked somewhat amused, as if she knew there was more to the story that Percy was letting on. He had a small moment of panic where he wondered if she did have a vision about this, but he set the fear aside as she continued. "Normally, they don't. They either stay like that for the rest of their lives, or another god feels sorry for them and alleviates some of it. In some cases they do actually get rid of whatever's bothering them, but you know how these stories tend to end for demigods. Rocks fall, everyone dies."

He was expecting that answer. Still, it couldn't hurt to try, right? "What about getting the god who was a jerk in the first place to take it back? That can happen, right?"

"Percy, who did you piss off and what did they do to you?"

"No one!" Percy winced when he realized he said that a little too quickly. "Nothing. I'm just curious. Can't I take an interest in learning about my heritage without being doubted? I'm hurt, Dare."

The girl narrowed her eyes at him, obviously not buying the lie, but she finally sighed and leaned back into her chair. "Fine, whatever. Anyway, I'm sure it'll be no problem for them to reverse whatever they did. The hard part is actually getting them to agree to it. You know how gods are better than I do—they're extremely proud, and don't like to admit that they're wrong. It might be easier to hold up the sky than get one of them to change their mind like that."

Luckily for Percy, he has had experience with such an endeavor. All of this was theoretical was, in any case. There was a chance he was just simply imagining these feelings. Or, if Aphrodite was actually still involved, they could wear off on their own like they apparently did with Jason. After all, this did involve Piper, one of her daughters. Would the goddess risk ruining her own child's relationship just for a cheap shot at revenge?

Probably, yeah, now that he thought about it. He let out a frustrated sigh that made Rachel frown even more. She got up from her seat and approached him, not stopping until she was right in his face. There, she nudged him on the shoulder. "I have no idea what's wrong, but whenever you want to come clean, you know I'm here for you. And so is everyone else."

Guilt grabbing at him, Percy nodded. He knew that any of his friends wouldn't hesitate to help him figure out what was happening. Hell, they'd march up to Aphrodite with him to get everything straightened—no pun intended—out. This just wasn't something he could easily bring up to anyone though. He knew that while he could ask others about ways to break enchantments, he was on his own when it actually came to doing the deed. There was Jason, but Percy didn't really want to approach him on the matter if he was completely back to normal. The son of Poseidon's pride would not allow it. So instead of revealing what was bothering him, he exchanged farewells with his redheaded friend and jogged back to the main campsite. He planned to get some sparring done to clear his head when he ran into the problem.

The problem being, of course, Jason Grace. He had left to Camp Jupiter when his fellow Romans did, but returned around the same time as Rachel. In his arms were a large pile of books and scrolls, and he struggled to keep them balanced after colliding with the son of Poseidon.

"Watch it, Jackson," he warned, trying to steady himself. "Where's the fire?"

"I'm the water guy, remember?"

That earned him a chuckle. Everything seemed normal for a moment then, like before everything happened and they could just easily talk and make fun of each other in somewhat passive aggressive ways. But then Percy began to notice things: How muscular Jason's arms looked in short sleeves, how he bit his lip slightly while shifting the weight of his cargo, how—this was so a problem. And the worst part was, of course, the fact that Jason didn't seemed bothered at all. How unfair was that?! For once Percy would liked to be the one who got to relax and not to worry about saving the world or wanting to kiss his taken best friend. He  _so_  deserved a break. Maybe in Hawaii. Were there demigods in Hawaii? He'd have to look into that.

"If you want to practice, I have to tell you that Clarisse claimed the arena as her own today. It might not be a pretty sight if you wander in there," Jason said. When Percy strained his ears, he could hear the distant sound of metal clashing against metal and the yells of some angry teenagers. While he knew he would have no problem against them, he definitely wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever the inhabitants of the Ares cabin were up to. Scrapping that plan, he instead turned towards the direction of his cabin.

"If you're not busy, mind lending me a hand here?" Jason asked before the older teen could depart. Although he should have thought of some sort of excuse to get out of it, Percy nodded and grabbed a bundle of scrolls from his friend's arms. They looked pretty old now that he had a closer look at them; they must have been pretty important. He found himself carrying them a little more gingerly than he had a few seconds before. The readings, he remembered, were what Jason had returned to Camp Half-Blood for, so now that he had them he'd be going back to his own camp. Percy wasn't sure if it was disappointment or relief that he felt.

"Starting up a library?" Percy said idly.

"Please," Jason replied, "our library makes yours look like a bookshelf. Reyna wanted these for some reason, I wasn't really listening..."

Jason not listening? Now that was a surprise, but Percy kept the commentary to himself. He wondered why the Praetor didn't come herself, but she might still feel a little bad for almost burning the Greek camp to the ground before when Gaea was still a threat. Either way, Percy didn't actually mind. Ignoring the weird feelings that were a constant pain in the neck, it was nice to be with a friend. All the constant motion as of late made it difficult to just hang out with one another. He asked Jason how Hazel and Frank were doing. Apparently they were teaching the other campers how to properly work along with the Greeks. While that was a good sign, it kind of hurt that they even needed the lesson. Then again, thousands of years of hatred wouldn't just wash away after half a year. Percy's time with them taught him just how strongly the Romans held onto their beliefs. The pair were just starting to make fun of Octavian and his teddy bears when they reached the Big House. They both entered, and Jason gestured for the books to be set on a table that was already covered with junk. Percy happily obliged.

"Is this everything? " Percy asked, leaning against a shelf.

"Yeah. I'll probably head back tomorrow, " the blond replied.

Percy hoped that his facial expression didn't betray him, and lightly bumped his head against the shelf. Despite the lack of force, though, a shower of items still rained down on him. Percy jumped out of the way to miss the brunt of the impact, but he was covered in dust and debris. Jason seemed caught between wanting to laugh and showing concern, but in the end he gave into the former.

"Ha ha," Percy said dryly. He tried to shake the dust off him, but it continued to cling on. Great, now he needed a bath.

"Hold on," Jason finally managed to say when he calmed down. He closed the distance between them and reached his hand out. His fingers pressed against Percy's skin as he brushed the dirt off. It was more tender than Percy had expected, and he tensed at the touch. His body was tingling. This was the most intimate they have been with each other since the lake, and it took the demigod more by surprise than the shelf did. Red flags were flashing in his head; this was not good. He was enjoying it too much and, gods, this was too weird. Breathe, Jackson.

And, worst of all, Jason seemed to have noticed the unease. He backed away, frowning at his hand then at his fellow demigod. Percy felt embarrassment wash over him. He was definitely showing how cool he was. Behold, everyone, the great Percy Jackson: Slayer of giants, destroyer of Kronos, blusher like a schoolgirl with a crush. No autographs, please.

"I can get rid of it myself," Percy finally said, cracking a grin to ease the tension. It wasn't his best attempt, but Jason nodded nonetheless. He probably didn't want to think too much into what happened. Percy continued, "Anyway, I'll clean up this mess before Chiron shows up. The last thing I need is an angry horse."

Jason offered to help pick up the mess, but Percy just denied it. After a few minutes the son of Jupiter finally departed, leaving Percy to tend to his wounded ego. This was way too much. To be fair, he no longer wanted to jump into Jason's pants like he did when they failed Aphrodite's quest. The attraction lessened from that, so it felt more like a quiet ebb for the most part instead of his hormones raging at him. It sort of reminded him of his time spent with Calypso. He liked her a lot—hell, there was still a pang in his chest when he thought about her—but there was no way he could be with her. But even if his current situation wasn't as bad as it was before, Percy still was overcome with guilt over it. He had to put a stop to this.

Looks like he'll be making that trip to the Empire State Building after all.

* * *

Percy was sort of an expert at sneaking out of camp. From leaving with the help of Hermes to following Nico to the Underworld, the demigod had quite a bit of experience when it came to breaking his curfew. So when it came time to picking up Blackjack from the stables and quietly heading towards the forest, Percy didn't feel nervous at all. Plus with how crazy things had gotten lately, no one would even notice he was gone. Not even the harpies would spare him a glance with all the commotion.

After he mounted his pegasus, it didn't take long for them to soar out into the sky towards Manhattan. His winged horse chatted animatedly the whole way there, which usually would get on Percy's nerves but he didn't mind it so much this time. He needed the distraction so he wouldn't rethink what he was about to do. It was crazy, stupid, and—on second thought, most of his plans were. But still, if anything went wrong, if Aphrodite lost her temper, things could explode in a big way. He might return home as a goldfish and no one would have any idea it was him. Or worse, they would know it was him and he'd be forever known as Perseus, the demigod who ate fish flakes. Despite the risks, he had to try. If Percy was one thing, it was stubborn.

When the scenery melted from trees to high rise buildings, Percy knew that he made it to the city. The sky was still dark although he could see the distant gleam of the sun beginning to rise. Early morning traffic traveled below him, and Percy quickened the pace; he wanted to get dropped off before too many mortals were roaming the streets. The Mist should hide Blackjack from them, but Percy had enough experience with the magic to not entirely trust it. The last thing he needed was some headline about a teenager terrorizing the skyline with a hang glider or something. They landed in an alley a few blocks from the Empire State Building, and Percy told the horse that he can return to camp. If everything turned out well, he'd stay the night over at his apartment in the city. Seeing his mom and Paul after so long would greatly improve his mood.

When he reached his goal, he entered into the lobby after a pair of businessman discussing the stock exchange, or something equally as boring. Percy cut in front of them, which they weren't exactly happy about and muttered some unpleasant things about the youth of today, and went straight to the front desk. Behind it sat a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. She looked at Percy with a big smile on her face that just had to be forced. It felt painful to even look at it.

"How may I help you today?" she asked.

"I need to get to floor six hundred," Percy said.

The woman appeared confused. "I'm sorry, that floor doesn't exist."

Percy had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He had already been through this routine, and this time he didn't have a super weapon to cut it short. Instead he leaned in and lowered his voice. "This is important. I need to see Aphrodite.  _Now_."

"Oh," she said, a look of something—recognition?—flashing in her eyes. "You wouldn't happen to be Percy Jackson, would you?"

That perked him up. Maybe she heard of his miraculous feats? Defeating the titans, stopping Gaea from destroying the world, and all that other fun stuff. He couldn't stop himself from puffing his chest out a little as he confirmed it. "Yeah. So, about letting me up to Olympus..."

Her smile brightened. "I'm sorry, but I have special orders from the goddess to not let you see her. Please leave the premises before I call security."

Percy gaped. Out of all the things he expected to happen on this trip, that was not one of them. His eyes darted to where he knew the key to the elevator rested; he could grab it and make a break for it. But for all he knew, the woman might be a minor goddess, or the security guards were something that would put up a fight. The mental headline from earlier changed from being about hang glider to bringing havoc and destruction to the Empire State Building. He had spent more than enough time on America's Most Wanted, thank you very much. So he gave the receptionist a not-so-friendly look and walked outside. He'd just have to figure out another, less direct, strategy to confront Aphrodite.

"What are you doing?"

The voice startled Percy so much that he involuntarily pulled out his pen. Luckily he didn't uncap it to turn it into its slightly more deadly sword form, Riptide. It was only Jason though, and not pissed off security guards. Wait, Jason? What was he doing in Manhattan?

"Admiring the architecture," the son of the sea god lied. "Look at how great this wall is. So sturdy."

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Jason didn't buy it. He glanced upwards to where they both knew Mount Olympus stood, high above New York City. He seemed to be considering all the possibilities before he finally spoke again. "Why are you trying to sneak up there? You know we can't just show up whenever we want to."

His tone made it sound like he had wanted to do that very thing plenty of times before, and Percy couldn't blame him. But if he admitted to wanting to talk to Aphrodite, it wouldn't take Jason too long to figure out the reason why. Percy shrugged. "I wanted to talk to my dad about something."

It was another flimsy lie. Poseidon was most likely to be in his palace under the sea instead of here, but it was the most believable thing he could think of. He could see the doubt in his friend's face, but Jason sighed. He probably found no reason to openly question the statement. "You still shouldn't run off like that. Rachel saw you fly off with Blackjack and was worried about you, so I tailed you."

Damn. Maybe he trusted Rachel to keep things to herself a little too much. "What is she, my mom? I'm fine, Jason."

And as if to prove his point, he turned and started walking in the direction of his home. He didn't turn to see if Jason was following, but he could hear the other demigod's footsteps behind him. Soon they were walking side by side on the sidewalk. There were more people around than earlier, and the sun had finally risen.

"Where are you going?" Jason asked after a beat. Percy knew that the guy didn't have too much experience with the city, so he watched with amusement as the blond took in the surroundings. It was less like a tourist, and more like someone who hadn't visited in a long time and couldn't remember where everything was. Percy found it somewhat cute, and he internally beat himself up for thinking that.

"To my place," he answered. "I'm going to spend the day here and go back to camp tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll let camp know where I am."

Jason nodded, and the pair walked in silence for a few blocks. Suddenly, an idea struck Percy. There was a high chance it wouldn't work since Jason was due to return to California that very day, but he still went for it anyway. "Want to hang out? Just for a few hours. There's an awesome pizza place near my apartment."

The younger teen considered the offer, most likely weighing it against the importance of returning to Camp Jupiter. Percy was feeling stupid for asking, and was about to hastily retract the offer when Jason smiled. "Yeah, sure. I don't have to leave right away."

Percy smiled back. Then remembered that he was supposed to be trying to put an end to this dumb crush and not inviting the guy over for a meal. It was times like these that made him wonder how the hell did he manage to survive this long.

* * *

Sally Jackson was so excited to see her son that she pulled him into a hug that lasted at least five minutes. Afterwards, she gave him a scolding regarding how dangerous it was for a half-blood to leave camp without permission for equally as long. Percy grinned through the entire thing. He introduced her to Jason, who was so polite Percy could have puked, and she welcomed him into their home.

"I don't have anything to do today," she told them. "Why don't we spend the day out?"

And so the three of them spent the day as tourists, giving Jason a proper look around the city. His mom even took pictures of them and bought 'I Heart New York' t-shirts for them to wear. Ironically, of course. They went from the Statue of Liberty (which was created by a son of Athena) to the huge Toys "R" Us on Times Square. They ate lunch in Central Park, although Percy didn't want to spend too much time there. He still harbored some slightly bad feelings from the war. Plus the Cleopatra's Needle, where they ate next to, gave him a weird vibe that he could't exactly explain. They didn't arrive back to the apartment until evening, and Paul greeted them at the door. Soon after, the four left to eat dinner at the pizza place.

It wasn't until then that Percy remembered that Jason should have left hours ago. He suddenly felt guilty; he made the guy waste so much time because he was selfish. But when Percy brought the subject up, Jason just waved him off. He said that he could just return to Camp Half-Blood with Percy in the morning, and then leave to his own camp after. He already asked Sally for permission to spend the night.

And for the second time that day, Percy found himself gaping at a turn of events he did not expect. Jason was going to be sleeping over his place. They would be spending the night together. At his apartment. By themselves.

Okay, yeah, his mom and stepdad would be there, but Jason would most likely be sleeping in his room. He had a feeling he might be blushing, so he decided to busy himself by stuffing his mouth full of pizza. He really had to appreciate the irony in the fact that he came here to put an end to whatever was going on, but instead all he accomplished was possibly making it worse. Maybe he'll become a cautionary tale in the demigod history books that way. Knowing Greek and Roman history, it wouldn't be that surprising.

"Cool," he managed to say after swallowing at least two slices of pepperoni pizza.

When they finished with their meal, the group headed back to the apartment. Along the way, Jason told them stories of Camp Jupiter and his life there. When he talked about Piper, Percy felt a sort of lurch in his stomach. Either his dinner was not agreeing with him or he was jealous. He was really, really hoping that it was the former option. It was pretty late when they got home, so his mom and Paul excused themselves to bed and left the teenagers on their own. There was an awkward moment of silence before Percy suggested they take turns with showering, and headed to the bathroom first.

He knew why he was acting strangely, but he couldn't exactly figure out why Jason was as well. Percy was ashamed to admit that he had a small flicker of hope that Jason was feeling nervous for the same reason he was, but that wasn't too likely. He was probably still trying to figure out the real reason Percy left the camp. After he finished his shower, he gave Jason some pajamas of him to wear. They probably wouldn't fit exactly, but he couldn't just let the guy sleep in the clothes he walked around in all day.

His mom had dug out a sleeping bag of Paul's for Jason to use and left it on Percy's bed. His bed that was big enough to fit two people. Jason didn't know about the sleeping bag yet, and both of Percy's parents were most likely going to be out of the apartment by the time the two of them woke up the next morning so he wouldn't have to find out. Percy wondered if he was actually ready to sink low enough to hide the sleeping bag and let Jason share a bed with him. The urge was strong, and he didn't have long to decide. He could sense the shower being turned off down the hall. A few minutes passed, and the sound of the bathroom door opening could be heard. Percy took a deep breath.

Jason walked in on Percy laying the sleeping bag out on the floor in front of his bed. The son of Poseidon looked up, and greeted him with a half wave. "Mom brought this over for you."

"Thanks," Jason said, sitting down next to him. Just like Percy thought, the pajamas didn't fit him right. The shirt was a bit too tight and the pants went above his ankles, but if the son of Jupiter had any complaints he didn't share them. "Are you going to tell me the real reason you came here?"

He should have known that Jason wasn't going to drop the subject so readily. Although they had their differences, the two were alike in a lot of ways besides being children of two of the Big Three. Jason was also pretty persistent, and once he was hooked on something he had a difficult time letting go of it. While it was a trait Percy might normally admire, right now it was just a pain in the ass.

"I can't tell you," Percy said, then quickly added: "At least not now. It's, uh..."

Jason held a hand up to stop him from going further. "I get it, man. I've spent enough time with the others to know how hard it is to carry a secret you can't share. But when you're ready, you know that we're all here for you. Especially me."

It was a mirror of the words Rachel had said to him the previous day, but coming from Jason it felt more... What? Percy wasn't sure, but it didn't help the knots in his stomach get any less tangled. He didn't even know if he would ever share this with him, much less the others. Maybe in thirty years, if they actually lived that long, he'll confess about having a crush. By then it'll probably be a faraway memory, and they'll crack jokes about it. At least he hoped it'd just be a memory.

Percy got into his own bed and slid under the covers. When he thought that Jason had fallen asleep, he began planning his next move. He couldn't get to Aphrodite the most direct way. He could probably try going through the lobby again and hoping that someone else was manning the front desk, and that they were more likely to let him through. But honestly, even if he managed to get to the elevator in one piece there were still holes in the plan. What if Aphrodite wasn't even there? He knew that the gods weren't ones to stick to one place for too long, a fact that Mr. D constantly complained of, so there was a high chance the goddess might be at one of her other haunts. The going to Olympus plan would only work if Percy was completely certain she was there, which he wasn't. So how else would he get to her? Especially if she apparently was avoiding him. He could ask one of her kids at camp for advice, but the one he was on best terms with was Piper. And his guilt meter would go through the roof if he asked her for help. There had to be some way to...

Percy turned his head to glance at Jason, and was surprised to find the blond awake. And looking at him. In the darkness of the room Percy wasn't sure what the other boy's reaction was at getting caught staring, but his voice was calm when he spoke. "You were muttering to yourself."

He was? Damn, did he pick up that habit from Leo? Percy wondered if Jason actually heard anything, but he didn't give any indication that he did.

"Your mom's really nice," Jason said. "And so is Paul. Your family is great."

Jason's own mom was dead, and even before that she wasn't exactly one to brag about. While Percy didn't know the full story, he heard enough snippets from Jason and his sister, Thalia, to know that their lives were not too cheery before.

"I used to have a step-dad," Percy said, "that wasn't Paul. Gabe. I called him Smelly Gabe. He was terrible—I've fought monsters that were nicer than him. But when my mom finally had a chance to get out of the relationship, she did. Everything's so much better now that he's gone."

Percy didn't add the fact that Sally was only with the guy for his sake, or exactly how she managed to get out of the marriage.

Jason didn't answer right away, but when he did there was a sort of affection in his voice. It took Percy a moment to decipher it as admiration. "She's pretty brave. You probably got that from her. I'm not sure where the recklessness and temper pops in though."

Snorting, Percy sat up. Those were definitely a part of his dad's influence, but he wasn't going to admit that out loud. Partly from loyalty, and partly because he doubted Poseidon would appreciate being called temperamental. "As if you can talk."

"You are so worse than me," Jason insisted.

"In your dreams!"

They carried on like this for almost an hour, until Percy was yawning and Jason had to strain to keep his eyes awake. It was probably best for them to go to sleep, but Percy didn't want to. As unexpected the sleepover was, he was really enjoying himself. And he knew that come tomorrow, the Roman would say his goodbyes and leave for gods' knows how long. He might not even see him until the new year, or maybe even later. He was used to spending months without seeing his other campers as Percy normally only stayed during the summer, but he wasn't fond of the idea of being away for so long.

Then again, that might actually be what he needed. If Percy didn't see Jason for a long time, would the spell get weaker? In all honesty, when Jason was across the country before, Percy didn't think about him as much. Perhaps whatever was wrong with him got stronger the closer to two of them were? In that case, what they needed was distance. It was for the best.

It still didn't make him feel better though.

The next morning, the two woke up to an empty apartment and breakfast on the table. Blue pancakes, blue toast, and blue juice. Jason poked at his food suspiciously and only dug in after Percy showed him that no, a monster did not sneak inside to poison their food. After they were well fed and packed, they headed to the bus terminal for their journey back to camp.

The more Percy thought about their upcoming separation, the better he felt about it. If his theory was correct, then he might not even need Aphrodite's help to fix the mess he was in. He could forget this ever happened and have a nice life with Annabeth, who will hopefully never even know that this occurred. He felt bad keeping such a huge secret from her, but he just wasn't sure what to say. He could probably admit to the curse. Hell, the daughter of Athena would most likely find it hilarious that Percy was blushing like a bride at Jason. How far they actually went with each other was a different story though. He did not want to admit that he had touched Jason's jewels.

When they settled onto the bus, Percy made sure to check in case there were any monsters in the nearby area. His luck when it came to these vehicles was pretty rotten, and he was not in the mood to watch another bus explode. It wouldn't take them all the way to camp, but Argus was going to pick them up after they got off their stop. When Jason asked about how jumpy he seemed, Percy explained about his time with the Furies. Which Jason seemed to think was funny because he kept snickering throughout the tale. For someone who was supposed to be a serious Roman, the guy sure did like to laugh at Percy's expense.

"It just sounds like you get stalked by ugly old ladies a lot," Jason finally said.

Percy thought about it and, to his horror, realized it was true. That or there was a very large proportion of the mythological community that consisted of them. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. "They probably know what a nice catch I am."

Jason rolled his eyes, and looked as if he was trying to figure out if Percy meant that terrible pun or not (he had). "I'm sure they can find better."

His voice was low when he said it, as if it was more to himself than to his companion. After that, Jason stopped talking and simply stared out of the dirty window at the passing scenery. Percy wondered about the sudden change in mood, then decided that it didn't actually matter. They were nearing their stop by then, and the less they interacted with each other, the better. Still, he did feel somewhat disappointed.

When they got off the bus, Argus was there to greet them with one of the camp cars. A few mortals openly stared at him, and Percy was curious as to what they saw. Camp Half-Blood's security guard was completely covered in eyes; maybe they thought he had a major skin rash or something? They all slid into their seats and the rest of the ride was so silent that Percy was positive that Argus had a feeling something was up. Considering he never actually spoke, there was no real way to confirm it.

Chiron gave Percy a lecture that was pretty similar to the one his mom had given him, but he wasn't in any real trouble. Thankfully Mr. D wasn't around or else he might actually have to worry about punishment. It looked like Leo had come back from his quest earlier that same day, so Jason ran off to go see him before he had to leave.

Alone, Percy headed back to his cabin to dump all his stuff off. He could find Annabeth after since his mom had baked some cookies for him to give her. It would be nice to spend the afternoon with her after dealing with so much, and then he could maybe actually get to train at the arena. There was no way the Ares cabin was up to their same tricks again so soon.

But when he got to the cabin, all those plans went straight out the window. He almost dropped his bag, which would have meant disaster for the baked goods that rested inside it, but he somehow managed to hang onto it. Slowly, Percy crept towards his bed and stared down in a mix of fascination and horror at it. This had to be some sort of joke, right? Maybe Jason had told someone, or Grover found out, and they were just pulling a lame prank. Yet something told him that wasn't the case here.

Sitting neatly on his pillow was a beautifully wrapped gold parcel, with a note attached that contained elegant handwriting. It only had two words that could have any possible meaning, but Percy immediately knew which was the right one.

_I won't._


	3. Grover Gets a Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason considers his options and realizes he doesn't really have any.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry for how late this chapter is! Life got busy for a little while there, but I'm completely free to write. The next chapter should be up in... well, not as long as it took this one to be.

"Jason!" Leo called out. "Yo, man. I didn't die!"

The Roman grinned at his best friend, jogging over to close the distance between them. Leo had left on a quest for the Hephaestus cabin two weeks ago, and Jason didn't expect to see him again for a while. He was thankful that he didn't leave yesterday like he originally planned to. It would have sucked if he missed seeing the energetic demigod by just a couple of hours. When they were close enough the two fist bumped, and Leo immediately jumped into a summary of the events that befell him.

While the shorter teen was trying to describe the "hotties that trapped him inside a cursed tree," Jason couldn't help but marvel at how much has happened since they last spoke. Life as a demigod was never a slow one, so even if you didn't leave camp you were still bound to have some sort of weird thing happen. Getting shoved into plant life seemed much more plausible than making out with another guy though. Especially when that guy was Percy Jackson.

He shook that thought from his head. Whatever had occurred was now in the past; neither of them have even brought the subject up since it happened. Whenever Jason spent too much time with him, though, an odd tugging feeling would impatiently pull at his gut as if trying to grab his attention. He wasn't sure if it was guilt or what, but it made hanging out with the guy kind of awkward. Awkwarder. He just wished that it would always be like yesterday when he spent the day with him and his family—fun and relaxing without any of that embarrassing tension that now stalked them. Although Percy did keep acting pretty strangely...

Jason couldn't help but wonder what would Leo's reaction be if he told him about all of this. He'd probably take it as a joke and laugh for about a day, and then hit Jason for hurting Piper once he realized that Jason wasn't pranking him. Not that he could blame the guy; he wanted to hit himself for doing that. But even if Jason did tell anyone about it, he highly doubt it would be Leo. He trusted him with his life, but with info like this? No way. He would never be able to live that down. Besides if Percy kept it to himself, Jason wouldn't want to be the one who blabbed. At least, he hoped Percy kept it to himself. It was kind of difficult to gauge who was in on the secret with the whole pretending that nothing ever happen thing they both had going on.

"—but before the cyclops could eat me I was like, 'Whoa, I know Tyson, too!' And after that we just sort of started talking about forges, and he taught me this really cool technique. Hey, are you listening to me?

Jason blinked. Leo was peering at him, and for a second he was worried that the guy was going to pick up on what he was thinking about. But then Leo's lip curled into a smile, the one that sent warning flags into every person of authority's head, and he took a quick scan of their surroundings. Uh oh. Leo Valdez had an idea.

"Where's Pipes?" he said, standing on his tiptoe as if that would help him locate her better. You're leaving today, right? Let's have a little fun first."

Normally Piper and Jason had an arrangement where they would stay together while going between camps. Once the quest activity became wildly hectic, though, they had to scrap that plan until things started to slow down. And it did not seem to be slowing down. Jason had a feeling that Annabeth and Chiron were trying to figure out what exactly was going on, but whenever he asked if he could help they'd do that thing where they say something cryptic then change the subject. How Percy spent years dealing with that, he'd never know.

"Is your definition of fun the same as my definition of fun?" Jason asked sternly, although he couldn't hide his smile.

"Have you ever looked in a dictionary?" Leo smiled back. "There's always more than one definition listed."

They both went off in search of the demigod, and they found her scolding one of her half-brothers. He apparently actually got into a fight with someone, which was surprising for the Aphrodite cabin. Piper noticed them and waved, but she didn't jog over to the boys until she had finished with her lecture. She gave them both a hug. "I wasn't expecting to see you two together."

"He actually punched someone?" Leo said, watching as the other demigod walked away. "Dude, you are so rubbing off on them. Pretty soon they'll be cutting their own hair with safety scissors."

"Shut up," she huffed. "They're really not that bad now that they don't have a dictator running the show. I think they miss Silena a lot though..."

They didn't say anything; none of them knew Silena but they all heard the stories. Leo, always one to break serious tensions, clasped his hands together and announced in a loud voice, "Anyway, since Jason's going back to Jupiter to get more stupider—ow! Don't shove me. As I was saying, we should party it up before he leaves. Like old times!"

"I remember less partying and more us almost getting killed by things in the old times," Jason said dryly.

"Dictionary. You should really take a look in one."

Leo's idea of partying was actually a game of hide and seek. Which, yeah, sounded pretty lame at first but there was also the added elements of both powers and weapons being allowed. And after being constantly on his feet without having much downtime, Jason definitely did not mind having a little lame fun. He was chosen to be it first since apparently being a child of the Big Three was an unfair advantage, so he stood next to a tree and counted to fifty as the other two hid. After getting yelled at by the nymph whom the tree belonged to, Jason went off to find them. Superpowered demigod or not, it was pretty difficult. He didn't give Camp Half-Blood that much credit for its size because Jupiter was bigger, but it did not make finding people easy.

He was searching around the cabins when he spotted Percy. The guy looked spooked, as if he saw a dead person or something. And given his track record, there was a high chance that he had. The son of Poseidon was walking quickly towards the Big House, but before he could leave the cabin area he seemed to change his mind and double back. It definitely was a weird sight to witness and Jason almost followed him to see what was going on. But he reminded himself that he was supposed to be hanging out with Piper and Leo, and they were probably getting impatient as to what was taking him so long.

It turned out that Piper was in the pegasus stables and Leo "borrowed" Annabeth's Yankees cap. The only reason Jason found him was because the guy's hand randomly burst into flames. After a couple more turns of this, with other campers joining the game, Jason realized that it was getting late and he seriously needed to get ready to leave. Reyna was nice and all, but her patience must be wearing thin at this point. He said his goodbyes to Leo who practically shrugged them off.

"It's not like you're boarding the Titanic, you know," he said. "I'll see you later."

Piper was less casual about it and gave him a pretty great goodbye kiss. And then another. Jason was ready for a third, but apparently luck was not on their side as someone chose that moment to come up and ask for Piper's help on something. Walking back to his own cabin to gather all of his stuff, Jason wondered if he should also say farewell to Percy. Yet once he thought of doing it, that tugging feeling returned and Jason knew that he wouldn't. It also reappeared on him during the bus ride back to camp, and in such an intensity that it really freaked him out. He ended up ignoring Percy for the rest of the ride back until the feeling went away, and he felt bad about that.

So Jason went back to his cabin to prepare for his long journey.

* * *

 

Reyna was as annoyed as Jason thought she would be at his late arrival, but she did a fine job of not showing it. Octavian, on the other hand, had spent the better part of an hour letting out passive aggressive commentary of the importance of keeping to schedule in times of trouble. When Jason cheerfully pointed out that his track record showed that he was far more useful during "times of trouble" than the legacy was, he was rewarded by watching the guy turn into a lovely shade of purple before storming away.

"You shouldn't have done that," Reyna mused. She was clearly trying to suppress the smile that was creeping onto her face. "He's still pretty sore about the whole Gaea debacle."

"The day I spare Octavian's feelings is the day he actually apologizes for being a scumbag," Jason retorted.

"He did have a point though, as much as I hate to admit it," she said. "Jason, times are very hectic right now and we haven't got a clue as to what's happening. I understand that you're needed at both camps, but when we call for you to come back you must get here as soon as possible.

If Reyna had planned on making him feel guilty, it sure worked. When Octavian criticized him it was just another Monday. But Jason actually respected Reyna, so knowing that he disappointed her was difficult to stomach. Especially since they were still trying to mend their broken bond after everything that had happened. Jason wasn't sure if she still carried a torch for him, but that didn't matter. What was important was working as a team, and he couldn't let some personal affairs get in the way of the legion.

All of that had happened about a week ago, and the son of Jupiter was still undergoing the process of catching up with the events of camp. Reyna, apparently, had been communicating with Annabeth via Iris Message on the strange happenings. When Jason questioned her about it, she found some sort of excuse and hurried off. Being left in the dark was not something he enjoyed; it was ranked up there with getting his teeth pulled and dealing with Mr. D's crazy followers. He realized that if he was going to get any kind of answer that he would have to find it himself. You know, like always

His first plan was to ask Hazel if she heard anything from her brother Nico. The kid, who spent most of his time in the Underworld, was almost like a goldmine of information because of all the time he spent sneaking around in the shadows. But when he went searching for her, he discovered that the daughter of Pluto had gotten some sort of bad cold and Frank forbade anyone from visiting her.

"No way," Frank looked apologetic, but he still held his ground. "If people go in and see her, she might get worse. Uh, hold on and let me grab a pen and paper, I can take a message."

Sighing, Jason turned down the offer and left the guy alone. Occasionally it was hard to tell if Frank was the best boyfriend in the world or the best mom at times like this. He would just have to figure out some other way to find out why everything is crazier than usual. He considered flat out demanding an answer, but he had a feeling that wouldn't work. As powerful as he was, Annabeth and Reyna were a lot scarier. He did not want to deal with any more scheming ladies at the moment either. Jason could try contacting Nico himself but the two weren't exactly besties. He was more likely to help Percy or his sister.

Should he go to Percy for help? The two of them together could definitely get to the bottom of things. But that odd sensation returned at the thought and Jason decided he would rather take his chances with Nico. He could Iris Message him, although when he dug through his pockets the teen realized he left all his money in his cabin. So he turned around and headed there.

One of the last people Jason had expected to see on his bed was the love goddess. And yet, there she was, sitting cross-legged at the edge of his comforter. She stared intently at a small, golden trimmed, compact mirror as if it was the most important thing in the world. Her features were forever changing—from blonde to brunette; dimpled to freckled. Mostly, Jason noted, she kind of looked like an older version of Piper. He probably would score a ton of boyfriend points if he told the girl that, but the demigod doubted that this was going to be a conversation he would want to share with her.

He waited quietly for Aphrodite to speak up. After a couple of minutes, however, he began to realize that she was way too engrossed with checking herself out and that he would most likely have to be the first to say something. Jason nervously approached his bed. He had faced down dozens of gods, but this particular one really put him on edge. It probably had to do with the fact that she A) was his girlfriend's mom and B) made him cheat on said girlfriend with Percy Jackson. So all in all, this was a meeting he definitely did not want to go through even though he knew it was necessary.

"Aphrodite," he said, bowing his head slightly. When that didn't catch her attention, he cleared his throat loudly and continued, "This is going to sound kind of rude, but what are you doing on my bed?"

She closed the mirror with a snap! and turned to face him. "That's not rude at all. I'm just checking up on you, seeing how you're doing after..."

The giggle that followed did not help calm Jason's nerves. While he was normally pretty in control of his emotions—you had to be if you wanted to get far as he did as a legionnaire—he was getting extremely tired of being a pawn in the games of the gods. It felt like he had spent his entire life getting his strings pulled by some goddess, and every time he finally got a break from it all, when he got a chance to live life for himself, something else popped up. So when he looked at Aphrodite, he couldn't help but feel anger and resentment boil inside him. He managed to push it down though, and he tried his best not to sound flustered when he spoke again.

"I'm fine, thanks. Did you visit Percy, too, and appear in his fountain or something?"

"Forget about Percy Jackson," she said, waving her hand as if Jason asked something trivial about the weather. "I already know how this is going to go for him, I practically made sure of that. No, but you're the interesting one here. Completely unaffected. The wild card, if you will. How this story ends will be decided entirely by you, and I simply can't wait to see what twists and turns you come up with! Oh, this is exciting!"

The way she said that certainly did not bode well for anyone, and it sounded like the complete opposite of exciting. Jason had been certain that Aphrodite was done with them after she made them do... stuff. If he were to be completely honest with himself, though, he had a feeling that she did still have some sort of hold on them. All those weird signs from Percy suddenly seemed ten times more important than they did before, and the son of Jupiter cursed himself for not taking them more seriously. It was obvious that something was bothering the guy, but Jason kept telling himself that he was just embarrassed after what they did together. But, really, that was just what he was hoping to be true. He wanted things to go back to normal and for all parties involved to simply forget that anything even happened. Yet here he was, standing next to the cause of all his problems and he knew that he was an idiot for even thinking that things could be as simple as that.

"You never lifted the spell off Percy," Jason said. "That's why he went to New York City, he was trying to find you. Why would you do this? I thought you had your fun! I'm your daughter's boyfriend, how could you jeopardize her relatio—"

The look in Aphrodite's eyes is what cut him off. All traces of joy were gone, and for the first time Jason really understood just how powerful this goddess was. She could destroy him right now, and she would look beautiful while doing it and not regret a thing. It was almost like he was seeing a totally different person, and he wondered if she had switched over to her Venus personality until he remembered that she was one of the few gods who didn't really differ between forms.

"I won't forgive you," she said coldly. "What you broke was very important to me, and you haven't even begun to make up for it. Piper may be my daughter, yes, but this goes beyond my children. I was actually much kinder to you than I could have been. So watch your tongue, Jason Grace, unless you want me to remove it. Or shove it down someone's, who is less attractive than Jackson, throat."

And then the smile was back, and it was as if she hadn't just threatened to force him to make out with someone ugly. "Well then! I think that's enough for today, don't you think? I'll just send you on your way then. You are way too far away all the way over here."

Jason took a few seconds to reply even though he already knew the answer to his question . "Send me where?"

"Do you really need to ask that?" Aphrodite laughed in amusement, her voice pleasant and empty of any of the danger it previously possessed. "You'll tell him to forgive me, won't you? I have a feeling he's going to be mad."

Then, suddenly, Jason found himself spiraling down into blackness.

* * *

When he awoke, Jason was lying face down on a bed. For a moment, he thought that he had dreamed the entire exchange with Aphrodite until the quiet and unfamiliar trickling of water crushed that hope. Didn't he say something about a fountain earlier? Lo and behold, there it was, the very same one he had mentioned, gushing out water only a couple of feet away from him. And that meant that he was sitting in Cabin Three of Camp Half-Blood. The blond groaned in annoyance; he had just reached his own camp just to be sent back to this one. Reyna was going to be so pissed. Sitting up, he gave the cabin a look around. Thankfully, Percy didn't seem to be there.

That gave him time to think up a game plan. He'd just have to sneak out and make his way back to Camp Jupiter without anyone realizing he was even here. And if someone did spot him, Jason could easily say that he forgot something and had to quickly return to retreive it. There was no way he was going to let himself become just another part of a deity's hissy fit, and he would make sure that whatever Aphrodite had been planning by this little escapade would fail.

And about two seconds after he thought that sentence, Percy Jackson opened the door and walked inside the cabin. Well, there goes that idea of ruining Aphrodite's plans. For some reason, the Greek smelled really flowery but Jason chose to ignore that. Percy paused mid-step when he noticed the son of Jupiter, and Jason could see a flash of different emotions on his face. It would have been funny if he didn't just get warned that the guy was likely to be ticked off. So he quickly got off the bed and offered an awkward wave.

"It's cleaner than the last time I've been in here," he said.

"Inspection was earlier," Percy replied, still looking like he got hit by Frank the elephant. "All my junk is under the bed. Aren't you supposed to be in California?"

"Believe me, I was asking myself the same thing."

A minute passed. Then another. Jason seriously dreaded explaining what exactly brought him to this humble abode, especially if Percy had been suffering because of Aphrodite all this time. Actually, when he thought about that, it kind of annoyed him. Why didn't Percy tell him? He could have helped. Yeah, it would have been embarrassing and uncomfortable, but Jason didn't like the idea of him shouldering all of this by himself. Sure, Jason told him that he could keep the secret to himself, but that was before he knew it actually involved him. But before Jason could say any of this, Percy plopped himself down on his bed and let out a heavy sigh.

"I am so over this whole demigod thing," he complained. "My autobiography is going to be all about how the perks are completely outweighed by everything else."

Jason smirked. "Even if the perks include a magical pen and flying horse?"

"Okay, maybe not all of them then."

They shared a laugh, and for a second everything was normal as long as you ignored the fact that Jason suddenly appeared cross country and that they practically rubbed genitals earlier that year. He knew that he'd have to ruin the moment by telling Percy about his conversation with Aphrodite, and as much as he wanted to delay that news, doing so might make things worse. So Jason sat down next to the son of Poseidon, turned his head so he could speak directly to him, and was met by lips brushing against his own.

A vast assortment of emotions rushed through him, and there was only one word to neatly summarize them all: What. What? What what what? A chorus of that single word exploded in his mind, and he didn't even notice that Percy had stopped kissing him until he saw the guy rolling on the ground in pain. Only then did he realize that he involuntarily shocked him with lightning. Jason hurriedly got up from the bed to help his friend, but Percy rolled out of his reach.

"What the hell?!" Percy yelled, sitting up. His shirt was smoking and his hair looked as if someone had rubbed a balloon all over it. "What was that for?"

Jason could not believe what he was hearing. "You kissed me! Out of nowhere. Excuse me for being a little shocked."

"Trust me," Percy muttered, "I'm more shocked than you."

The two glared at each other until Jason finally relented and held his hand out. Percy considered it, and Jason thought that he was going to continue to be a stubborn brat until he actually accepted the help. Once they were both standing next to each other, what had actually happened seemed to finally catch up with the two of them and their faces matched the color of Rachel's hair. Jason's theory was right; Aphrodite never did take her spell off of Percy, and now they were in such a deep mess he didn't have even a remote clue as to how to get out of it. Gods, why was he so blind?

They both started talking at once:

"Look, sorry about that. I don't know what happened, I just sudd—"

"Aphrodite sent me here."

Percy promptly shut his mouth. Then opened it. And shut it again. Jason was almost sure that he was going to start rolling on the ground all over again when the son of Poseidon finally composed himself. "She's actually speaking to you?"

"Uh. Yeah?"

"That crazy woman—" the cabin shook ominously, but Percy ignored it, "—banned me from Olympus! She apparently told her kids not to talk to me, 'cause I went to her cabin a few hours ago and they threw perfume at me. I smell like I took a took a dive into Juniper's personal bubble bath! But she's totally cool about going to see you?"

"Uh. Yeah?"

"Just making sure," Percy said, sitting back down on his bed. "What did she say?"

Jason was more interested in discussing that whole surprise kiss thing, but he had a feeling that was the opposite of what Percy wanted. So instead he recounted his encounter with the Olympian goddess, making sure to not mention any of the parts that was likely to offend his friend. When he finished, Percy's expression was grim but thankfully he didn't appear to be that mad anymore. In fact, he didn't seem surprised at all.

"She won't forgive us, okay, I got that," he nodded. "But did she say anything about leaving us alone? Or sending a gift basket with an apology note? Because I'd totally dig a gift basket right about now."

Jason shook his head. "All she said is that how this ends will depend on my decision. Whatever that's supposed to mean."

The look on Percy's face gave Jason a flashback to whenever Annabeth and Chiron did that thing where they had an entire conversation by just sharing a glance with each other. Whatever Aphrodite had meant by her words, Percy probably had a good idea about it. Whether or not he'd actually share that information was another thing entirely though. "Do you have any idea of what she meant by that?"

Without a word, Percy reached over and pulled something out from underneath his pillow. Jason couldn't help but gasp when he saw what it was: That stupid gold parcel that landed them in this situation to begin with. But why did Percy suddenly have it? He was pretty sure that the goddess had taken it with her after she made them... anyway. It didn't make any sense why Percy would now be in possession of it, unless she gave it to him. Which still confused him, because why give such a precious item away to the people who broke it in the first place? He almost wanted to look inside, just to see if the goddess didn't replace her item with some sort of joke, but he knew better than to do that. Rule number one: If a god told you not to look at something, then don't do it unless there was some sort of chance you would not die horribly if you disobeyed. There was no such chance at the moment.

"I found this on my bed the day you went back to Camp Jupiter," Percy explained. He lightly tossed it in the air and caught it, which seemed dangerous, but he didn't really looked like he cared at this point. "I almost went to Mr. D for help after I found it, but I'm not that desperate yet. Anyway, we need to talk about the most important piece of information here: You don't like me. Like, at all?"

How the hell was that the most important bit? That weird feeling in his gut returned, but Jason ignored it. Hesitantly, he shook his head and Percy visibly deflated at the answer. But he quickly shook it off. "That's less to worry about then. All we have to do is figure out what you're supposed to choose to do so we can end this."

Jason noted the irony in the current situation—not too long ago, Percy was given a choice that would change the entire course of the world. Granted, there was a bit of a difference between the destruction of the gods and teenage romance. The former was nowhere near as terrifying as having to deal with feelings and possible girlfriends scorned. Jason knew that it must suck knowing that your fate depended on someone other than yourself, so he couldn't help but reach other and pat Percy on the back. A friendly pat. A completely platonic, bro pat. But the way Percy leaned into his hand sent warning flags in his head, and he just knew that his fellow demigod was seeing that as anything but platonic. And that gave him an idea.

"Hey," Jason said slowly. If his plan was wrong, this was going to be pretty embarrassing, but he continued either way. "Remember when I kissed you at the lake? For, uh, closure? Maybe... What if I did that again? Maybe we're not supposed to wait until she fixes up her mess, but we have to do something drastic instead. That could work, right?"

Percy frowned. "But I just kissed you and the only thing that happened was a near death experience."

"Because you initiated it," the blond explained, "and you're still under the spell. I'm not. So if I kiss you under my own free will..."

"It's possible," Percy said gravely, although there was a sparkle in his eyes that wasn't there before. "So, what, a quick smooch and we'll see what happens next?"

Jason nodded. That sensation in his gut was churning again, but, like always, he ignored it. Both boys knew that the chances of this working wasn't exactly that high, though Percy probably didn't really care either way. It didn't even have to be a proper kiss, or a very long one, he just had to steadily press his lips against Percy's and, to quote, "see what happens next." And so he leaned over the son of Poseidon, their noses brushing each other, and then kissed him. It mirrored that other one from many months ago eerily well, but then Percy began to really turn it into a kiss.

His hands found their way to Jason's hips, and they were steering the blond closer to him until Jason was only a few inches away from falling on top of his lap. His mouth moved with a sort of intensity that would make the most innocent of Hunters different shades of red, and it took Jason way too long to realize that he was enjoying this more than he should be considering he was no longer enchanted. And yet, when Percy guided him to the bed he didn't object; when the dark haired teen's hands traveled underneath his shirt he simply moved slightly to make it easier for him. Pretty soon he found himself without a shirt, and he wasn't even sure how that happened. They must have stopped kissing long enough to yank it off him, right? He had no idea.

Around the time Percy's lips found his neck, Jason began to realize that he should probably put a stop to what was happening. This was definitely why Aphrodite sent him here; she knew that this was going to happen. Hell, she probably made it happen herself. Maybe his decision wasn't kissing Percy, but putting a stop to it when it started to go too far. Taking a deep breath, the Roman got ready to push the other teen away when suddenly a fist struck him squarely in the face.

Percy Jackson just punched him. Holy shit.

When the dancing stars were finally no longer part of his vision, Jason instantly went into a defensive position. But Percy was already at the other side of the bed, nursing his now bruised knuckles. A flash of regret appeared on the boy's face, although whether he was regretting hitting Jason or the pain was up for debate.

"Okay," Jason said, clutching his face. He was almost certain that his nose was bleeding. "I think you have this backwards. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to punch you, not the other way around."

"I panicked!" Percy admitted. "Look, I had everything all planned out. I was going to avoid you for the rest of my life or at least until this whole thing blew over. But no, you just had to show up and be all, 'Hey Percy, let's kiss!' That idea sucked, by the way."

"Yeah, I bet it sucked. Like how you were just sucking my face."

He snorted. "Ha. At least that's all I sucked."

Now, between the two, anyone would say Jason was the more mature one. He had better composure, and he was less likely to do something irrational because of the spur of the moment. Jason Grace was, as many have stated, "Roman through and through." With all of this in mind, Jason grabbed the nearest pillow and smacked his friend over the head with it. Percy's reaction was immediate and unsurprising: He attacked back. And that was how two teenagers who have saved the world multiple times had a pillow fight.

The battle was vicious. Feathers wildly flew into the air as each cushioned blow struck its opponent. Blood from Jason's injured nose smeared against pillowcases and bed sheets, and man, it was going to be awkward to explain that one away. But neither cared about that, as only one thought danced through their minds: To hit the other very hard. It was only when most of the stuffing was now outside the pillows rather than in them that they slowed down, and Percy dropped what remained of his weapon down on the bed beside him. Jason found himself straddling the demigod, his extremely deflated pillow raised over both their heads. With just one strike, he could end this terrible fight. And without any trace of remorse, Jason hit Percy in the face with his pillow.

"Ow," the loser deadpanned. "You got me. I'm dead."

A moment of silence followed and then they both laughed. Jason couldn't help but be amused that they went from kissing to hitting each other with bed accessories. He noticed that Percy's arms had once again wrapped themselves around his hips, but Jason had no idea if it was a conscious action or not. Before he could point it out, the door opened.

"There you are," Grover said. "Annabeth has been looking for you and—"

The satyr's eyes widened as he took in the sight. The view of Jason sitting on top of Percy, the bed in disarray, and blood covering them probably was not what he was expecting to see. Plus Jason was still shirtless, a fact he conveniently forgot about until just this moment. Grover pointed at them accusingly, gaping, and the blond could practically hear the gears turning in his head. This was it, he thought, Grover will have finally figured out what they had been hiding from him since that fateful quest. Or something equally as mortifying, in any case. He tried to think of some sort of excuse when, without any warning, Grover yelled something that may or may not be appropriate for younger audiences and ran out of the cabin.

"Do you think he suspects anything?" Jason muttered.

"Shhh," Percy lifted his head up to get a better view of the doorway. His arms let go of the blond's waist. "Move, I need to go talk to him and... Oh. Oh no, didn't he say something about Annabeth?"

Right on cue, the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard right outside the door. Panicking, Jason leaped off the bed. He had no idea how they were going to explain this to the daughter of Athena, especially if she ran into Grover before coming here. When he saw the girl's hair come into view of the doorway, he braced himself for the oncoming avalanche of questions when, suddenly, the fountain literally exploded. Annabeth cried out in surprise, and Jason instantly knew what happened; Percy was providing cover for him. Without a moment to spare, the blond used the distraction to throw himself onto the ground and slide underneath the bed where he discovered that, yes, Percy did in fact throw all of his garbage there to pass inspection. How lovely.

"Percy!" Annabeth sputtered. "What in Hades are you doing?"

"I don't know," Percy lied. "I think someone boobytrapped my room. Even my bed's a wreck."

Jason immediately saw a couple of holes in the story, yet for some reason Annabeth didn't point them out. He had no idea why, considering she was easily the smartest person that he knew, yet she ignored the blood covering the sheets and other red flags in favor for her actual question. "I just saw Grover running from here. He was covering his eyes and tripping over everything. Any idea why?"

"I can ask him. Unless you want to?"

There was no response at first, but Annabeth finally sighed. "No, you can. I just wanted to tell you that Chiron called for a counselors meeting, and we should all be there in an about an hour. It's about all the quests we've been getting lately. He thinks there's more to it than... Never mind. Don't be late, seaweed brain. We'll talk about all of this later, I need to find the other counselors now."

Jason couldn't see it, but he was pretty sure they kissed and then she was gone, her wet sneakers squeaking into the distance. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he dragged himself out from under the bed and he instantly saw why Annabeth didn't question Percy harder. When he made the fountain blow up, he made sure that everything was affected. The walls, the bed, almost every inch of the cabin was wet. Percy even managed to wash away any traces of blood from the crime scene. The guy in question was staring at the door after his girlfriend, an unreadable expression on his face. Yet Jason was pretty sure he knew what he was thinking about.

"I need to tell her," he said. "I really don't want to, but I can't lie to her about this anymore. The  _only_ reason she left so easily is because she's busy. You should tell Piper, too. Especially since now we know you're still under the spell."

Jason frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"You were definitely kissing me back," Percy replied casually, lifting up Jason's drenched shirt from the ground with his forefingers. "I'm not complaining, but it takes two to tango. Er... I think so, anyway, I've never actually tangoed before. Whatever. I guess Aphrodite made it less obvious for you or something."

And just like before, Jason immediately noticed the holes in this story as well. Aphrodite flat out said that Percy was the only one still under the spell; Jason had been left alone, which was why it was up to him to fix this mess. She could have been lying, of course, but he had a feeling that wasn't the case. Percy was right as well. Jason did kiss back, and he was thoroughly enjoying the fact that he was kissing back. Just like that, the strange feeling in his gut that never failed to appear whenever he was around the son of Poseidon made perfect sense. Jason didn't have the excuse of being affected by the will of a god like Percy did. While Annabeth might be understanding—albeit mad—when told the truth, Piper most likely won't. And she didn't have any reason to be.

Jason legitimately liked Percy, and he had no one to blame but himself.


	4. I Encounter a Girlfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens, and Jason gets a ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying your summer! I'm kinda iffy on parts of this but, you know, whatever. A lot of stuff will be picking up in upcoming chapters, so I hope you all enjoy this! ♥

"Look, Annabeth, the thing is... I kissed Jason. That's, uh, a thing that happened. Sorry? I have a perfectly reasonable explanation, though! "

No response.

"I didn't mean to do it! Well, I did, but it wasn't my fault. I know that sounds... sounds... Ugh."

Percy let out a loud sigh, running a hand through his ruffled hair. It was beginning to get much longer than he liked it, and he had come to the habit of letting his girlfriend cut it for him while he was at camp. However, considering what he was planning on telling her it wasn't really a surprise that he didn't want her waving a sharp object anywhere near his head. That is, if he even managed to say anything at all.

He kept repeating different scenarios in his head, but they all seemed so wrong. On one hand, he didn't want to tell Annabeth  _all_  of the little details. That might be a little too traumatizing for the both of them. To be honest, he wasn't exactly sure if he would be able to voice all the things that had happened without dying of utter embarrassment in the middle of it. He had to tell her the truth though, no matter what. That was the one thing he knew for certain; once Percy firmly and truly decided on something, it usually took the end of the world to force him to change his mind. The problem was how would he go about it. He considered gathering Piper and Annabeth together and telling them both at the same time, but when he suggested that idea to Jason the poor guy practically started to choke. Percy really couldn't blame him—it took him awhile to accept the fact that Aphrodite royally screwed him over, and Jason literally just found out about it. They would probably have to deal with admitting the truth to Piper afterwards.

Speaking of Piper, he could see her walking ahead of him in the distance. The two of them were making their way to the Big House where the camp counselors held their very important meetings in the rec room. Jason had wanted to come as well since Annabeth made it sound very urgent, but Percy convinced him that it was best if he stayed in the Poseidon cabin. They had no way to explain how the Roman had gotten here suddenly and it would only look suspicious, especially considering he literally just left only a week prior. All they had to do was keep it a secret between them—and Grover, which Percy wanted to forget about—and find a way to get him back to California without anyone realizing he had ever left it. How hard could it be?

Those were probably the most cursed five words in all of existence.

In any case, the boys agreed that Percy would go to the meeting by himself and then report whatever they talked about back to Jason. While on the way there, Percy practiced what he would possibly say to his girlfriend whenever he got the chance to. He thought of doing it after the gathering, but confessing to Annabeth while Jason was sitting on his bed was possibly the worst plan he could ever think of.

Piper reached the doorway and she paused at it, holding the door open for Percy. He felt his stomach lurch, most likely in guilt. He almost wanted to yell out, "Sorry, I took your boyfriend from you, please don't kill me!" at her but that might make things even worse. And he technically didn't steal anyone from anybody, even though a part of him wanted to. But that part didn't actually count considering it was being influenced by the infamous love goddess. If only Annabeth would actually buy that excuse.

"You look so serious," Piper commented once her fellow demigod reached her. "What's up?"

"Just wondering what this is about," Percy lied. He felt so bad about it, but it wasn't his place to tell her the truth; that was Jason's job. "Annabeth sounded like it was pretty important."

The girl nodded before leaning in more closely, her voice lowering. "It is. You know how I've been tagging along with her lately, right? I don't know the full story, but I think she figured out what's been going on with all the quests."

Now  _that_  was interesting. The fact that the girl would not reveal anything to him was beginning to annoy him as much as the whole Jason problem was. Annabeth had a history of keeping things from Percy, but he was starting to hope that they had gotten past that stage. Then again, considering it was her, there definitely had to be a good reason that she kept her lips sealed about it all. Percy was not really in the position to criticize someone for not telling the truth.

Apparently they were the last counselors to arrive with the exception of the daughter of Athena herself. Leo was chatting with the Stoll brothers, but he stopped and waved once he saw them enter the room. Piper immediately went and sat on his other side. Percy gave the group a quick look over before sitting down next to her. No one else appeared to know what they had been summoned for, but they all probably had an idea. There really was only one thing that had been on their mind lately. It was actually a surprise that all of the counselors were together in camp at the same time. They were either very lucky with that, or it was great planning. Percy had a feeling he knew which one it was.

And practically on cue, Annabeth arrived, followed by Rachel and Chiron. The two girls didn't sit but instead stood on either side of him. It almost looked like they were a sort of honor guard for the centaur, which would have been funny if they didn't all share the same grim expression on their faces. If it wasn't for the fact they were wearing the signature bright orange t-shirt Percy would ask if there was a funeral taking place that no one told him about.

"I know you're wondering why we called this meeting," Chiron began. "As you're all aware, things have been rather unusual for us for the past year."

"Yeah," Clarisse snorted. "Even the Aphrodite cabin are being forced to go outside. It's a disaster."

"Watch it," Piper moved to get out of her seat, but both Percy and Leo grabbed onto her arms to stop her. While Clarisse had gotten better over the years, she was still one of the last people anyone would want to get into a fight with.

"I would have phrased it different, but essentially, yes," Chiron continued. "The quest frequency level has been more frenetic than I've seen it in centuries. At first, we thought it might just be a temporary spike in activity but it has been going on for far too long to be something we don't take seriously. Annabeth and Rachel think that they have an idea of what's been going on."

"And Reyna," Rachel added. She looked pleased of herself. A lot of people still thought of her as just the spooky chick who occasionally turned into a night light and gave prophecies, so she loved it whenever she was able to contribute in a way that did not involve any of those things. "We are still missing a few details, though..."

"Nonetheless, you should tell them."

They both nodded and Annabeth stepped forward. "To be honest, I kind of suspected this for a while now. But there's only so much we can do without a prophecy—" all eyes turned to Rachel, who gave an apologetic shrug in return, "—and we just don't have one at the moment. We keep asking, and Reyna's been working Octavian like the dog he is—sorry, Chiron. Anyway, both here and at Camp Jupiter we've been hitting dead ends on that front."

"Why do you think we're not getting a prophecy about this?" Percy asked. "We're getting other ones, so why not about the thing that's causing this mess?"

"I'm not sure," Rachel admitted. "It's almost like there's some sort of... block. But I'm certain there is one, and either the Romans will find it first or I'll get all misty again and announce it. We just have to hope it happens quickly or..."

"Great," Leo groaned. "Here's the whole end of the world part."

"We don't know about that yet," Annabeth had on her lecture face now which featured an annoyed scowl. She didn't really like it when people made side commentary while she did a presentation, and it was oddly adorable except for the fact that she could be terrifying when angered. "But we do know one thing: None of this is a coincidence. After looking at the recent quests, almost all of them had to do with an item being stolen that either belonged to a god or had some sort of significance in our mythology. And, yeah, we could write some of it off as the gods being petty and using the confusion to get back at each other, but that's not always the case. I personally know that my mother would never—"

"What she means is," Chiron interrupted, "we think someone is purposely causing a bit of a stir. Percy, do you remember your very first summer here?"

The son of Poseidon had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "You mean the time I was on the most wanted list? When I thought my mom was killed by a minotaur? When I totally kicked Ares' butt and he cursed me for it? Yeah, it rings a bell or three."

"We think that someone is manipulating us like that time with Kronos. Not all of you were around for that, but I'm sure you heard of it. The Titan had Zeus' master bolt stolen in order to cause a war between the gods. This appears to mirror that incident only in a much larger scale. And I'm not entirely sure if it's for the same purpose either, but we can't really say what's a fact and what's a theory until we learn more."

Uncertain murmuring passed throughout the room. Butch, from the Iris cabin, raised his hand before speaking. "Who in Hades could actually pull something like this off?"

The three of them shared a look before Annabeth answered. "That, sadly, is one of our missing details. We have no idea."

The murmuring then broke out into outright chatter. Percy understood the frustration; he was never the type to just wait around for the answers to be handed to him. The demigod would dive into things head first, which got on the nerves of everyone who wasn't him but so far that method hasn't failed him. Okay, well, it hasn't failed him enough that he ended up dead from doing it. So the fact that they have just been sitting around, not doing much about it, was not something that made him happy. But at the same time he understood why they had to wait. The world, especially the mythical part of it, was a very big place and if you lacked a decent lead then finding something in it could take forever. The satyrs' old search for the god, Pan, was the perfect example of this. So unless they came across some sort of hint as to who or what was pulling the strings here the best they could do would be to minimize the damage done.

Percy glanced at Annabeth. She had been working so diligently to figure out this problem while he was too self-absorbed with his Jason problem to properly help. He couldn't even be mad about being left in the dark since he could now see her reasoning. She probably didn't bring him into the loop earlier because Annabeth knew that Percy would rush in the moment he knew something bigger was going on, and she couldn't risk that happening until she knew more of the truth. Oh, yeah, he was totally a great hero. Superb. Way to think about the people instead of yourself, Jackson.

"So whenever you get the prophecy, you think you can fix this? I'm getting tired of leaving every other week," Travis asked.

It took Pecy a moment to realize everyone was looking at him. "Hey, what makes you think that the prophecy is going to involve me?"

"Did you really just say that?"

"Percy," Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Even when a prophecy doesn't involve you, you will somehow still find a way to make sure that it does. So quit that humble crap before I hit you. And don't defend him, blondie, 'cause you can't talk either."

Percy gaped and looked around the room for someone who would argue for him. Piper decided that would be a great time to inspect her nails and Leo just shrugged in a way that said, "Well, they have a point." Which they did, yeah, but they made it sound like he was just some attention crazed jerk! It wasn't his fault that Kronos and Gaea made everything so personal so he was forced to get involved every single time. And considering that people rarely volunteered to do the jobs with the highest mortality rate around here, you'd think they wouldn't hold the fact that he regularly did against him so many times.

"No matter who has to get involved," Chiron interjected, "we will put an end to this. I have to go to speak with Mr. D now, so if you'll excuse me..."

Everyone took that as the signal that the meeting was over. Chairs were scraped back as campers got up to their feet, chatting with one another, and headed to the exit. Piper and Leo appeared to be in deep conversation over something, but before Percy would walk over to see what was up Annabeth cut in between them. For a second there, Percy actually forgot what he had been planning on revealing to her. Even more importantly, he forgot what she saw.

"Can I talk to you?" she said under her breath. "Alone?"

Percy nodded, licking his lips. Considering he was a son of Poseidon, his throat felt unnaturally dry for some reason. The two of them waved goodbye to their friends and walked outside together. Percy assumed that just getting out there would be enough and slowed to face her, but Annabeth was quickly walking in the direction of the lake. For a split second he had the crazy thought that Annabeth had somehow learned that he and Jason once kissed there and was dragging him to the scene of the crime. Then he remembered that the two of them frequently went to the lake together, and it was even the spot of their first kiss. The fact that he thought about his kiss with Jason before the one shared with his girlfriend let another wave of guilt wash over Percy.

Once they reached the shore line of the lake, Annabeth stopped walking. Percy stood in front of her, his arms awkwardly swinging at his sides. He wanted to confess to her first, but Annabeth definitely looked like she had something to say so he kept his mouth shut.

"Sorry," she finally blurted out. "About keeping all of that a secret from you. I should have told you, but I—"

This was not how Percy expected the conversation to go. He shook his head vigorously, the frown on his face deepening. "What? No, don't worry about that. I know how you get when you're working on something. Remember the Mark of Athena?"

She let out a laugh at that. There was no way either of them was going to forget how that ended up. But Annabeth did look somewhat relieved after that, as if some invisible weight was lifted off her shoulders. "I was just so sure I'd have figured everything out, and the next thing I knew, it's been months and I was still clueless. Gods, I'm supposed to be  _smart!_ "

"Annabeth," Percy closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You're the smartest person I know. You'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. And then we can go and beat up whoever is messing with us like this. You know, what we usually do."

The blonde made a sort of humming noise in response, leaning into her boyfriend. They stood like that for a few minutes before she finally pulled away, the look on her face replaced by another. This one was also serious, but Percy could tell that she was thinking about something besides her possible failings now.

"What happened in your cabin earlier? I tried looking for Grover, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I thought that he may have run off to Juniper, but he wasn't with her... Something happened in there, and please don't feed me that story about the fountain malfunctioning again. It's an insult to my intelligence."

Percy knew that this was the moment. He probably wouldn't have a better opening than this one. But when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. Annabeth was currently freaking over the mystery of the quests to the point that she was doubting her ability. And Percy realized that if he dumped the Aphrodite news on her, at this moment, he would only bring her more stress. He wasn't chickening out on what he decided to do; he still completely believed that he had to tell her, and Piper, the truth. But there was way too much going on at the time, and he figured that he should wait until things slowed down. He was still going to tell her what happened, just not at that exact moment.

"We got into a fight," he lied. He almost wanted to throw up after saying it, but he tried to keep a straight face. Annabeth was extremely good at reading people though, and she knew Percy like the back of her hand, so he wasn't sure if she would buy it.

She looked skeptical at first, and rightfully so, but it gave way to a softer expression. Percy wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but he took it as a sign that things were okay right now. Annabeth gave him a peck on the cheek then wiggled out of his grasp.

"You go apologize to him," she said. "I'm going to go talk to Rachel. See you later?"

Percy nodded, touching the spot she kissed him. He watched her go before turning around himself. He definitely needed to find Grover before she did.

He found the guy in a huddle of nymphs. Juniper spotted him first, and by the look on her face Percy knew that she was not happy at him. He approached the group cautiously, making sure to stop a good few feet away in case any of them lunged at him. He had seen nature spirits angry before, and it usually was never pretty.

"Go away," she sniffed. "Grover doesn't want to see you."

"I just want to explain myself," Percy pleaded. "Please? It really wasn't what it looked like."

The nymphs continued to look aggravated but a hint of confusion appeared on their features, and Percy practically sighed in relief. It looked like Grover didn't actually tell them what Percy did to upset him, just that something happened. That was good. The less people who knew, the less likely it would get back to Annabeth before he was able to tell her.

Grover didn't reply right away, but eventually there was a deep sigh and he walked over to his friend. He still looked a little queasy. After reassuring his girlfriend that everything was okay, the girls all left them to their own devices. The silence that followed was so awkward that Percy actually might have preferred it if the girls had stayed.

"If it wasn't what it looked like, then what was it?" Grover finally asked. He was definitely blushing.

And before Percy could comprehend it, he was telling his best friend everything that had happened until now. Well, almost everything. He wasn't cruel enough to give the intimate details of the affair. Considering that he failed to confess to Annabeth, he probably felt that he had to tell at least one person other than Jason. The more Percy talked, the more exaggerated the expression on Grover's face became. He almost wanted to laugh at the satyr, but that was probably a terrible idea given that he now had information that could forever ruin Percy's life.

Not that Grover would use it against him, of course, but Percy watched teen movies. He knew how this stuff turned out even by accident.

When he finally finished the tale, Grover had to use a tree for support. While he still looked like he wanted to claw his eyeballs out of his face, he did appear much more understanding of the situation. Or maybe Percy was only imagining that, and Grover wanted to cry even more.

"You need to tell Annabeth," he finally said. "Why didn't you tell her?"

Percy hesitated. He had a reason, but for some reason he didn't want to say it out loud. It was as if admitting it would somehow invalidate his decision. "She's under a lot of pressure right now. I didn't want to add more."

"And Jason? What are you going to do about him?"

"Well, after we send him back—"

_"He's still here?!"_

"Of course he's still here," Percy stared at his friend. "What did you think I did, FedEx him back to California?"

Grover looked taken aback. "Don't be ridiculous. You could have used the Hermes Express!"

"We are not sticking the son of Jupiter into a crate and shipping him to his camp."

"I guess you're right. I don't think we could have afforded it anyway," the satyr sighed in defeat. "I heard Piper and Annabeth talking the other day. Apparently even Reyna is starting to lose patience with how long this is taking to figure out. I think the Romans are taking it as an insult, and one of their leaders skipping out on duties might not make things better."

"He's not skipping out," Percy protested. "Okay, he is a little. Not on purpose!"

Grover shrugged, picking up a can from the ground and chomping into it.

No one mentioned the Romans getting antsy to Percy. Not that he was surprised by it—he accepted their culture more easily than the other Greek demigods considering he lived it shortly. But if they actually dove in without any support, then that might be a problem. Why didn't Jason mention that to him? Or did no one bother to tell him either? Seriously, what was up what everyone keeping the two of them in the dark like this? It's not like they were keeping things from everyone else!

Wait. Oh, right.

"I'll sneak him out after I go back to the cabin. I promise we won't do anything weird."

At those words, Grover turned a fresh shade of green and covered his ears. " _Blaa-ha-ha_! Don't mention it! I need to get the image out of my head."

_Me too_ , Percy thought.

* * *

Jason was pacing when Percy returned to the Poseidon cabin. The blond paused midstep at the intrusion, his eyes darting around for a hiding spot but he relaxed once he saw who it was. Percy imagined the guy leaping behind a drawer every time someone loudly walked past and he had to stop himself from snickering.

"Well?" Jason asked. "How'd it go?"

Percy fell into an explanation of what he learned at the meeting. He even mentioned what Grover had told him of the Romans becoming restless, but Jason didn't appear surprised or disturbed the news. He just nodded his head, his brow furrowing, as he absorbed it all. He didn't even seem to notice when Percy stopped speaking, and he looked surprised when he glanced up as if he couldn't believe that the other teen's lips stopped moving.

"And? What about Annabeth?"

"Uh, yeah. About that whole telling our girlfriends thing... Can we postpone it? They're kind of in a lot of stress already, and I don't want to add to that. But when this is all over, we'll tell them first thing! Is that okay?"

Was it just him, or did Jason look positively ecstatic at that news? Actually, now that he thought about it, the guy had been acting strangely ever since everything had been brought out into the open. While Percy could understand why it might be a tad awkward after that, he figured that things would be easier. Hell, Percy began to relax ever so slightly now that he knew for sure that he wasn't Aphrodite's only target. But it seemed to have the complete reverse effect on Jason. Maybe the goddess had said something else to the guy and he was keeping it a secret for whatever reason? Perhaps she threatened him with a manicure or something even more terrifying.

Jason had stopped pacing and was sitting on the very edge of the bed, leaning out towards Percy. He looked pretty attractive like that, with how his muscles tensed as he pressed forward with a serious lo—no! Bad! Percy was going to have to invest in a spray bottle for every time this happened. Oh gods, he was like a dumb teenager with a crush. Well, okay, he was literally a dumb teenager with a crush. But why did he have to actually  _act_  like it?

"I can manage that," Jason finally said after Percy had already forgotten what they were discussing. "Did you find Grover?"

"Yeah. He sort of knows everything now... But he promised not to tell anyone. You should probably stay away from him if he comes by carrying a huge box and stamps though."

"What?"

"Nothing. Inside joke. We should get you back home."

For a split second a look of disappointed fell on the blond's face, but it slid off quickly. He got off the bed (this time it was Percy's turn to look disappointed) and he gestured towards the exit. "I already thought of a plan. I'm just going to summon Tempest and get away that way."

Percy immediately saw a hole in the plan. "I think someone might notice a bunch of storm clouds approaching camp, dude."

"Yeah, but—"

"We can still go with that," he continued. "But why don't you leave camp on Blackjack? Just fly with him until you're out of the immediate area, then you can summon your windy thing and go on your way. No one will notice if one of the pegasi decided to stretch its wings out."

"Did you just call Tempest my 'windy thing'?"

Rolling his eyes, Percy grabbed the Roman's wrist—he pretended not to see his cheeks burn red at the touch—and took off to the door. After making sure that the coast was clear, he lead them over to the stables. They came across people a few times, but it was dark enough that they didn't notice anything peculiar about the two boys. Or they didn't care. Either way, the trip to get Blackjack was so easy that Percy was beginning to get paranoid over it. Things never went as planned for him. When everything appeared a-okay, something would happen. He would be turned into a guinea pig or blown out of a volcano or other not planned stuff! But they easily found their way to the stables, and Jason mounted on the pegasus, and not a single thing went wrong.

"Maybe I'm getting better at this whole sneaking around thing," Percy said, petting Blackjack's mane.

"No way, boss!" the horse replied. Jason laughed.

"You'll probably get caught the moment you step outside," he said.

"And what about you? You'll get away freely while I have to deal with harpies?"

Jason considered that for a moment. "Yeah. Pretty much. I was always better at sneaking than you."

"In your dreams, Grace."

The two shared a smile, holding each other's gaze longer than what was actually necessary. Percy's eyes fell to Jason's lips, his neck, his exposed collarbone, and he almost wanted to reach out and touch all of it but he was out of reach on top of Blackjack. Speaking of the horse, that also kind of ruined the mood. Percy may have done many things he never imagined he would the last few weeks, but he drew the line at groping another guy while a magical creature watched.

Jason apparently shared the sentiment because he cleared his throat and looked away. "Right. I'm just going to go now. I'll IM you when I get there. Just so you'll know I didn't get eaten by an ogre or something."

"Don't steal my horse. I know how much cooler he is than your windy thing."

Blackjack stepped outside the stable, his wings spreading outwards towards the sky. Jason glanced over his shoulder, trying his best to fight against the smile that was tugging at his lips. "In your dreams, Jackson."

And with that, they shot into the air and flew away. Percy watched until the two were just a speck in the sky before closing up the stables and making his way back to the cabin. He hadn't gone too far, though, when he heard some rustling in the bushes nearby. He froze in his tracks. Was it one of the nymphs? Some campers who were also skirting along the edges of curfew? He was just being paranoid again. It couldn't be that someone had been spying on them. Seriously, like who would honestly care what two guys were doing in the stables. Percy had to stop being so jumpy lately, that could cause trouble in the future.

But just as he thought that, a figure emerged from the greenery. She walked straight to him, her eyes alight with determination, and Percy couldn't help but curse his luck. It seriously did happen just like Jason said it would; he wasn't sure whether to be impressed or annoyed by it. But he needed to set that thought aside because now there was an angry looking girl standing right in front of him, her hands on her hips, and a look on her face that would make Hades back away.

"Percy," Piper said, "exactly what was my boyfriend doing here?"

Suddenly the volcano thing didn't seem all that bad.


	5. Apollo Gives Some Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy loses his temper, but gains some wisdom from the gods. Well, "wisdom."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmm, chapter six is going to be fun. Enjoy!

Percy would have never thought that he would one day secretly have two completely different people sitting on his bed on the same night. Considering the circumstances, however, he really wished that this day had never came. He kept hoping that if he closed his eyes long enough and then reopened them, that he'd suddenly find himself alone and preferably in Disney World. He desperately needed the happiest place on Earth right now.

He always liked Piper. Admittedly, he wasn't as close to her as he was with the Romans or Annabeth, but he never saw it as a bad thing. There was just a tendency of them almost dying a lot whenever they were together so they didn't get many chances to bond with each other. He did consider her a good friend though, and he knew that she felt the same way about him. Percy couldn't help but wonder just how far being a 'good friend' could take him in this situation though. She looked  _mad._

She didn't say what she had seen after initially confronting him. Instead, the daughter of Aphrodite demanded that they speak to each other immediately and privately. Since it had just hit lights out, they had no choice but to return to Percy's lone cabin. If it was discovered that he brought a girl in there after hours he would be so dead, although he was probably dead already considering who the girl was.

How long had she been watching? Percy tried to pick his brain to remember if anything had happened between him and Jason that might send warning flags. He held Jason's wrist all the way into the stables, and from a distance that possibly could have looked like they were flat out holding hands. Piper might have only come across them when they were inside though. She could just be upset over the fact that he was even here to begin with without saying anything to her. They didn't get to see each other as much as they used to because of the current mess they were all in, so Percy could see why Jason showing up then leaving without saying anything would be bad. He felt like a jerk, but he really hoped this was the case. If it was, it meant that he could still keep the truth a secret. He would just need to come up with a cover story and do it fast.

He couldn't help but notice that since they went inside that Piper hadn't said a single word. He expected her to blow up at him, but then again, she was never actually the type to do that. From what he had seen and heard of her, Piper had a tendency of keeping things to herself until it had no choice but to burst from her. It was a trait that seemed to be a running thing for a lot of demigods, to be honest, but Piper especially had a problem with being afraid to speak out. That's why when she did, you had better listen.

"Percy," she finally said after what felt like years. "That  _was_  Jason, right? I didn't just... imagine it all up?"

 _I wish,_ Percy thought. "No, it was him."

For a terrifying second, Percy thought that she was going to cry. Those fears were unfounded, though, because when he got a better look at her face all he could see was a fierce look that practically screamed, "I am going to get shit done and there is nothing you can do to stop me." It would be admirable if it wasn't directed at him. Instead, he just got a sense of dread and he once again cursed Jason for getting out of this so easily. Then again he was probably going to get his ass handed to him whenever Piper next saw the guy. Maybe Percy didn't get the short end of the stick after all!

"I want you to explain to me what's going on," she said evenly. Percy wondered how she managed to sound so calm even though he knew she was mad, and she realized that she was probably doing her best not to put any power into her words. "And don't say it's nothing. If it was nothing, you would have tried to explain yourself already."

He opened his mouth and then shut it. Well, she had a point. He didn't even need to say anything for her to know something was going on; just his actions implied that he was guilty. He thought back to his conversation with Annabeth earlier, and he wondered how he managed to sound so convincing back then. It was only a few hours ago and yet the entire situation had been flipped on its head. He wasn't the one who was supposed to be telling any of this to Piper. That role belonged to a stupidly well built and nice looking blond guy. He was so going to hit Jason the next time he saw him for this.

The real problem was that Piper had not mentioned what exactly she witnessed. If she had actually seen something more intimate between the two boys then Percy would have no choice but to reveal what her mother had done to them. And honestly, he felt more sympathy towards her in this situation than to anyone else. At least Aphrodite didn't have any real relation towards him besides weird godly relative, but demigods didn't really pay much mind to being related to gods that aren't their actual parent. Families worked differently in the mythical world. Piper, however, didn't have that option. When she learned the truth, she would be facing betrayals by three people she cared about. So Percy didn't want to drop this massive bomb on her in this way, while her boyfriend sneaks off into the night. But if the girl really didn't have any suspicions beyond the fact that Jason was here without telling anyone, then there was no need to reveal anything damaging at the moment. So how could Percy find out what she knows and doesn't know without looking sketchy?

Okay, yeah, he totally got the short end of the stick.

He couldn't just stay quiet like this either. He might as well put a ski mask over his head with how incriminating that made him appear. Oh gods, why was he overthinking this? He needed to relax. Just find a middle ground, and go from there. In other words, he had to completely wing it and hope he sounds believable. And that was a skill he had been practicing ever since he was thrown into this world at the age of twelve. If he could do it then, he could do it now.

"He didn't come here on his own," he finally said. He quickly glanced at her face to gauge her reaction. "He was just suddenly sent here, and we wanted to get him back to New Rome as soon as possible so he wouldn't get in trouble over there."

Piper pursed her lips together, but didn't object to anything. Percy took this as a sign to continue: "Okay, yeah, he still could have said something to you. But it's, uh, complicated."

"It's complicated," she repeated. There was now a funny edge to her tone that did not make Percy feel any more safe. "What exactly makes this complicated? Why is Jason suddenly getting transported across country? I know that a lot of weird things have happened to us in the past, but usually stuff like that don't happen unless there's a reason. So..."

"So?"

She rolled her eyes. "Tell me the reason!"

While she most likely didn't mean for it to happen, there was undoubtedly a hint of charmspeak that mingled with her words. Percy suddenly found himself nodding because, yes, he should definitely tell her it. In fact, he should just confess to everything. Even that tiny part of him that actually wanted to steal this girl's boyfriend from her should be brought out into the open. But the moment that thought crossed his mind, he reeled in horror. He could never do something like that. She was his friend, and he already had a girlfriend who he deeply cared for. That realization brought him to his senses, and he knew exactly what to say.

"Something happened on the last quest I went on with him and Grover. We ran into a god, and we sort of got... cursed," he explained, grateful that he sounded more confident than he actually felt. He quickly tacked on, "I can't say who did it or what we were cursed with. That's sort of part of it."

Technically he didn't lie, right? He just kind of implied that under the effects of the curse they could not reveal what actually happened. Which was still pretty low of him, but it was the best solution he could think of in the situation. That is, assuming that she actually bought it.

Piper looked dubious, but when she spoke her voice was full of nothing but concern. "It wasn't anything serious, was it? Percy, if you're in trouble, you can reach out to us. We'll help, even if you can't tell us the details."

Well that just made him feel a hundred times worse. Everyone had to stop being so understanding all the time, it was making it difficult to be a terrible person. Still, Percy had a feeling that the girl didn't completely believe what she was told. If anything, she simply accepted that she wasn't going to get any more information that night. Piper was probably planning on contacting Jason the moment she was able to, and Percy realized that he had to reach him first. The Roman had said that he would send an Iris Message whenever he reached his camp, but that would take a while. He needed to talk to him sooner.

He suddenly got an idea. Piper's words reminded him of a conversation he had a little while ago. "Rachel said the same thing. I went to her for advice earlier."

Okay, so he was stretching the truth just a bit, but he did actually ask Rachel about curses! Which made her a witness (kind of), so now his story became just slightly more believable. If anything, it'll just prove that he didn't make it up on the spot if Piper went forward and asked the other girl about it.

Percy almost expected Piper to do that thing where you point at your eyes then at the other person, but instead she simply stretched and turned towards the door. "I should probably go before we get caught. Thanks for talking to me about this."

There was an unsaid 'even though I had to force you to' hanging in the air, but Percy did his best to ignore it. He smiled pleasantly, wished her a good night, and the moment the door closed he ran to a drawer, grabbed a drachma, and threw it into the fountain. After hearing it hit the water, he froze for a moment, waiting to see if the door would open again. When it didn't, he asked to see Jason Grace.

The demigod was greeted to the sight of a lot of trees. He panicked for a second, wondering if he had contacted the guy after he had already gone to bed. But then he heard someone cursing, a loud thud, and a familiar blond stepping into view.

"Did I interrupt something...?" Percy asked, eyebrow raised to comical proportions.

"No," Jason replied, looking a bit annoyed but that fell away once he saw who it was.

He was obviously wondering why Percy had contacted him so soon. The Greek realized that this might make him look clingy or something. Oh, great. That was a reputation he definitely did not need attached to him. Still, he didn't want to open the conversation with the news about Piper; he'll slowly ease his way into that soul crushing news. "What's up?"

Smooth.

"What's up," Jason repeated in a tone that eerily mirrored Piper's from earlier. He shook his head as if he could not believe Percy called him for this, but he continued anyway. "I just finished feeding Blackjack. After he has rested I'm going to send him back to you. And I contacted Reyna and told her that the Hunters needed me for something. She thinks I'm still around the immediate area of Camp Jupiter, so it should be fine."

Percy frowned. "But what if she finds out you lied about being with them? All she has to do is talk to them before you can."

"I didn't lie," he replied then ducked his head out of the way. Percy could see familiar looking tents off in the distance. "They were just at Olympus. I ran into them and they agreed to let me travel with them until we reach their hunting spot. Artemis was kind of, erm, unhappy about it the decision, considering the circumstances, but she agreed because of Thalia."

While Percy could see understand why the goddess would not want a male with her and her followers, the way Jason phrased that was rather... concerning. "What circu _—_ _does she know?_ "

When Jason didn't answer, Percy had to stop himself from screaming. With everything going on he hadn't even considered the fact that the gods might find out as well. How embarrassing was that? It wasn't like they could judge him or anything, but the last thing he needed was an immortal audience giving their commentary while the boys ran around like headless, lovestruck chickens.

"Apollo told her," the blond went on. "I don't know how he found out, but from what she told me they're both keeping their mouths shut. They don't want this to get back to our dads."

Oh gods, his  _dad_. What would Poseidon think? Would he be ashamed that his son had fallen into a trap set by Aphrodite? Would he feel sympathetic? No, even worse, what about Zeus? Jupiter. Whatever. That guy got mad if Percy invaded his airspace, how pissed would he be if he found out he was making out with his son? Jason apparently thought of the same thing because he did not look too happy.

Then, suddenly, another thought struck him. "She didn't tell the Hunters, did she?"

As if on cue, a smallish girl appeared behind Jason. Percy had never seen her before so he guessed that she was a new recruit. She kept glancing back towards the tents as if she could not believe she had been sent to deal with a guy on her own. "Thalia says to go speak with her once you're done talking with your boyfriend."

Percy swore so loudly that the Hunter literally jumped then sprinted off. Jason looked apologetic, but at the same time as if he was already used to comments like that. They hadn't even been separated for that long, how many jokes had Thalia crammed into that period of time?! Speaking of her, she was good friends with Annabeth. Yeah, she was also buddies with Percy, but the two girls had a deeper history together. Would she actually stay quiet about this, even though it involves her own brother?

"They're not allowed to tell anyone," Jason said as if he knew where Percy's mind had wandered to. "Either way, my sister said that she wouldn't have gotten involved even if they were. She wants us to solve this on our own. Oh, and that if you make Annabeth cry, she's going to kill you."

"That's sort of the opposite of not getting involved." Percy really did not like where this was going. Even if the people who were already in the know remained quiet, there was no way to be certain that other gods would stay in the dark. While Apollo and Artemis were keeping their mouths shut because of political reasons, they were some of the gods who actually liked Percy and were probably also doing him a small favor. But there were other ones who were definitely not card carrying members of his fan club. Like Ares. You know, that one guy who was frequently around Aphrodite and wow Percy was screwed.

Jason shrugged. "I think it's admirable. So did you only IM me to chat or was there an actual reason?"

He almost forgot about the Piper situation. She could probably be in an area where she could quietly send a message to Jason by now. Unless she went to bed first, but Percy couldn't risk that any longer. "Uh, yeah. I ran into your girlfriend earlier..."

"My girlfriend," Jason repeated, the color vanishing from his face. His mind probably went straight to the worst possible scenario. "And what did the two of you talk about?"

"Oh, you know," Percy said casually. "The stock exchange, how the Yankees are doing, she saw you leaving camp... The usual stuff."

Jason made a noise similar to a dying elephant. He stepped out of view of the Iris Message, and Percy started worrying that the guy gave up and ran away or something. But the blond returned only a few seconds later with a grim expression on his face. "Tell me everything."

So Percy fell into an explanation of the events. From the moment Piper revealed herself to him to her leaving the cabin. Every word was like a blow to Jason; he looked more and more depressed as the story went on, and by the end of it he might as well been attending his own funeral. He didn't reply right away, absorbed in his own thoughts, which only made Percy nervous.

"I can't believe this is happening," he finally said.

"I know," Percy sighed. "I should have been more careful getting you out of here. Sorry, man."

But Jason only shook his head. "I don't just mean about Piper. I mean, everything. I'm so  _tired_ of my life being some sort of joke to the gods. It's not that I expected a normal life or anything _—_ I've always known I will never have that. But for once I had something nice and good for myself, and now I have..."

If Percy still had the blessing of the River Styx, he would think that someone was digging a sword into his vulnerable spot. The implication was that this... whatever the hell it was that they shared was something bad. Toxic, even. And honestly, Percy understood where he was coming from. He also thought the same thing plenty of times before, of how he wished that quest never happened and that Jason was nothing more than a friend and battle companion. Yet, despite that, hearing the words come out of the other teen's mouth was like a slap to the face. It made Percy angry.

"You have the same thing you had before," Percy spat out before he could stop himself. "This thing between us? It's not even real, so why are you so worried about it? We don't _actually_  like each other."

Jason's shoulders slumped, and momentarily there was an expression on his face that made Percy instantly regret what had come out of his mouth. But then it was gone, replaced by that stony look Jason got whenever he was about to face a life threatening situation. When he spoke, his voice was formal and flat. "Right. If that's all, I need to go see Thalia now."

Before Percy could open his mouth to apologize, the connection ended. He stared at the now empty spot where Jason's face once stood, berating himself and his short fuse. Why did he say that? Sure, it was the truth. They both knew it. No matter what emotions the Roman made him experience, or how much he wanted to run his hands through his hair, this whole situation was only a fabrication created by a goddess as a petty revenge scheme.

Yet despite all of that, Percy couldn't shake the feeling that, for a split second, Jason looked heartbroken.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, the other demigod never contacted Percy afterward.

Well over a week had passed, and Percy eventually abandoned the thought that it was just taking Jason longer than usual to reach New Rome. The guy simply did not want to speak with him, and the son of Poseidon completely understood that. He worried about it at first; it felt as if he lost his own teammate in all of this. Yeah, technically Grover was now in the know, but Percy did not fancy the idea of bothering the guy whenever he felt things. While he was certain that their friendship had no limitations, he did not want to actually put that to the test. He almost called the guy himself a couple of times but he stopped himself. He went weeks on his own with this before he found out that Jason was affected, he could handle a couple of days.

And then he was whisked away on another quest to find something or other; Percy was seriously losing track of all of them by now. Annabeth and Grover came along, which was both wonderful and bothersome. The two were, without a doubt, his favorite questing buddies but Grover eventually asked what was going on between the two demigod boys. And while Percy didn't mind telling him, it was a tad difficult with Annabeth looming nearby. Even when she was well out of earshot Percy was too nervous to say anything. Considering how little his luck had been holding out lately, he did not want to risk it.

They were setting up camp near an overgrown baseball field when they first heard it. It sounded like someone throwing heavy rocks at a windshield, and the three of them instantly went on guard. But then there was nothing. There could have been a ton of normal, not monster related explanations for what caused that noise. Like, for example, someone throwing heavy rocks at a windshield. Things like that did actually occur. Grover even said that he didn't smell anything too murderous in the immediate vicinity. Yet the trio still couldn't help but feel on edge, and they remained in hiding until almost half an hour had passed. Finally, Annabeth sighed and turned to her companions.

"I'm going to do a quick survey of the area. Grover, come with me, I need your nose. Percy, do you mind watching over camp? We'll be gone for only a minute."

A lot could happen in a minute, but Percy nodded anyway. He kept his eyes pinned on their receding backs in case anything tried to jump on them, but nothing happened and they soon were lost to view. Sighing, Percy turned to look over their camp and came face to face with Apollo.

"Yo," the god said with a wave. He was nestled into the front seat of a Lamborghini that was definitely not there two seconds earlier.

"That was you," Percy frowned. "That weird noise."

Apollo shrugged. "I had to get rid of them without looking suspicious. I actually wanted to make them drop into a pitfall for comedic effect but we can't always get what we want. Anyway, I'm here to talk about two things."

While Apollo was one of the gods that got the least on Percy's nerves, he didn't really like the idea that his friends had to get chased away in order for them to talk. There wasn't that many topics in which had to be kept secret from other people at the moment, so the demigod had a feeling as to what was going to be brought up.

The god lifted up his pointer finger. "One: Rachel was right when she guessed something was blocking her from getting the prophecy. I'm not allowed to help you guys directly, per se, but I'm pretty sure I figured out how to get rid of that block. So you kids might be getting what you need shortly."

That was a relief. Things should run much more smoothly once they actually knew what the Hades they were supposed to even be doing. "What was causing it?"

Apollo looked as if he was about to say but then halfway through it he changed his mind. "You'll see. 'Life is a journey, not a destination,' blah blah blah."

"For once can it be about the destination?"

"Percy Jackson," the god said. "Would you like for me to give you a clear answer that will save you a butt load of time and resources?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, well, I'd like for my sis to actually get me a gift for my birthday. Life is full of disappointments, kid," he shrugged.

"Why didn't you tell this to Rachel instead of me?" Percy asked. He sounded a little irritated now; he had enough of this cryptic junk to last him a lifetime.

"'Cause then it would have been obvious I'm interfering. Everyone is already watching me over this. Do you have any idea how much of an insult this is to me? Prophecies are my territory, and it's being stomped on. And I said I had two things to tell you, so I'm making a shorter trip this way," he huffed. His middle finger soon joined the other one. "Two: _Why are you so slow / It's pretty damn obvious / He got the short stick._  Bam!"

"... Did you just recite a haiku at me?"

"I gave you some advice," Apollo winked at him. "You can either think on it and learn something, or do whatever. It's not like it affects me. Your entourage should be coming back now, so see ya later, Jackson."

"Wait," Percy called out. "Advice on what? Why did Annabeth and Grover have to leave for you to just tell me that? It's kind of vague."

He turned on the ignition. "That girl of yours is pretty smart. I don't think I need to tell you that though. And... okay, look, you really did my a favor back then when you saved my baby sister. I know that you half-bloods are kind of supposed to do stuff like that for us, but she's family. So I'll add onto that advice: Tell her sooner. I get that the reasons you're waiting are noble, or whatever, but it's only going to cause more trouble in the long run. I'm kind of good at predicting these things. Ah, there she is!"

Percy quickly whipped around to face the direction the two had walked off to earlier and saw their now approaching figures. He turned again to reply to Apollo, but the god had already vanished. He really should have been expecting that. Still, what had he meant by the haiku? What was obvious? Did he mean that Jason had the worse deal here? Well, according to Aphrodite it was up to him to solve this mess, so it could be in reference to that. But Percy had a feeling there was something else going on here that he hadn't been made aware of yet.

You know, like everything else in his life.

Then there was the whole Annabeth portion. That was definitely easier to understand. Ever since his conversation with Piper, Percy began to regret his decision of waiting to tell the truth. But he really didn't want to move forward without talking to Jason first, yet for some reason he still didn't fancy the idea of actually, you know, contacting the guy. Sighing, he figured he would just talk to Grover first and then go from there.

"Was that a car?" Grover asked when they approached. He had a bunch of burgers _—_ most likely veggie _—_ in his arms and Percy wondered where the hell did they go to find those so quickly.

"Yeah... yeah, it was Apollo," he replied. "He said that he thinks he figured out how to stop whatever's blocking the prophecy."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "And did he say how he was going to do that, Seaweed Brain?"

"It's cute how you think it'll be that easy," he laughed. "What's with the food?"

"There was a stand," she said, although her eyes now had a faraway look in them that signified she was thinking of something other than dinner. "It belonged to Iris, apparently she opened more shops in different locations. I'm going to go back there now to figure out where we have to head next. Want to come with...?"

Grover shook his head so hard it was a miracle his hat didn't fall off. Luckily he was standing behind her or else the jig would have been so up Jupiter would be impressed. Percy followed his lead and shook his head. "Nah, I'm hungry."

Annabeth frowned, and for a second Percy thought he saw some sort of deeper meaning into it. But it was gone, and she headed back in the direction from which they came from. A feeling of dread was stuck in his stomach. He knew there was a good chance that Piper had gone to Annabeth about what happened, and now the girl was simply waiting for Percy to tell her as well. It made him want to admit to everything even more, to just run after her and spill his guts right then and there. But a small voice in his told him to slow down, it wasn't fair to Jason if he did that without talking to him first, he shouldn't do things rashly for once.

That line of thinking did not make him feel any better.

On the bright side, he and Grover were now alone. Now, Percy was nowhere near comfortable talking about his messed up love life with the satyr. Things like going skinny dipping with his father and giving Clarisse a foot massage outranked it, but he really had to talk to someone about this. So once he was positive his girlfriend was well out of earshot, he turned to his best friend and let it all out because he knew he was going to ask anyway. When his story was finished, Grover was nervously chewing at air since he humorously dropped his burgers.

"Why don't you just call him?" Grover finally said, scowling slightly as he brushed the dirt off his food. "Get it over with."

"I don't want to," Percy replied. It sounded so childish, but hey, it was the truth.

"Percy," Grover whined, his tone somewhat sing-song in that  _I am terrified_  way. "Annabeth is suspicious. I don't know if Piper told her anything, but she knows something is up. She kept trying to hint at it when we were alone. So just figure things out with Jason and tell the truth already!"

Okay, that annoyed Percy. Grover made it sound as if he  _liked_ sneaking around people's backs with some big secret. He wanted to tell the truth. He would have done it with Piper if it wasn't for Jason. And then, suddenly, it hit him like the school bus from the end of  _Mean Girls._ He was mad at Jason. The way the blond had snapped at him had gotten under Percy's skin in a negative way. So now there he was, extremely annoyed and insistent to not be the first person to call the other. It was hilariously pathetic, but he had pride. And he wasn't going to let the son of Jupiter take that as well.

Still, he sighed. "I told you that I'm waiting for the best time to tell her. Right now... isn't it."

Grover hummed. "How do you know when it'll be the best time?"

Percy tried to answer but the words were stuck in his throat. He wanted to say, "When this is all over," but that was the problem. He had no idea when that would be. And the longer he waited for the prophecy and quest mess to be cleared up, the bigger the  _other_  mess he was in got. And that's probably exactly what Apollo was warning him about. If he took too long to figure things out, then chances are that Annabeth will learn of it from a different source. And that was the last thing he wanted to happen.

"I do have to warn Jason first," Percy muttered, scratching the back of his head. "When we return to camp I'll contact him then I can... set the Annabeth thing right. Okay?"

Grover smiled, patting his friend on the back. That was great, because Percy was going to need all the support he can get with this.

One of these days, things will turn out as planned.

* * *

When they arrived in camp, the first thing they noticed was a camper running towards the lake with a stool carried over his head. That sight only signified one things, so without hesitating the trio dropped their supplies onto the ground and chased after him. Sure enough, there was a circle surrounding a very familiar head of bright hair. Green mist surrounded the girl, and her eyes were illuminated in a way that Percy had already gotten used to. Over the past few weeks, the oracle giving prophecies like this had become per the usual so the crowd was much smaller than it would have been before. But Apollo's words echoed in the son of Poseidon's mind, and he forced his way to the front in order to get a better view.

They gently eased her onto the stool and she instantly snapped to attention, her eyes scanning the crowd until they finally settled on Percy.  _Uh oh,_  he thought, but he put that aside the moment the girl opened her mouth. It was still odd heading such an old voice coming from someone who was almost his girlfriend, and the two often made jokes about it. But now, when he had the oracle's full attention, it suddenly wasn't as funny.

_Half-bloods of the Three shall join hands_

_To travel in the west through familiar lands._

_Divided, you will put up arms_

_Against the god with wicked charms._

_Find the thief's den with much haste_

_Or else one shall fall from grace._

Once the prophecy ended, the kids behind Rachel instantly went forward to make sure she didn't fall over. But other than the light sounds they were making, everyone else stood silent. While they weren't around to hear Apollo's warning, Percy knew that they understood what that prophecy meant. It was what they were waiting for. And once that realization hit, chatter erupted throughout the crowd. Some of the campers ran off to tell others, and a few stared intensely at Rachel as if she was going to say another one.

As always, it was Annabeth who stood forward. "Find their counselors and tell them we're having a meeting. Now. I'll get Chiron and Mr. D."

Percy stared blankly as everyone ran around before turning to Grover. "Remember how I said I was going to tell her when we get to camp..."

His best friend groaned. "I guess the stars aren't aligned with us today. Or any other day. I hate you, stars."

Half an hour later, all of camp sat at the amphitheater. Everyone had heard the lines of the prophecy by now and have come to a general agreement that, yes, it was the forever elusive one that had been hoping for. They only quieted down when Chiron stood forward, but it was Rachel who spoke.

"So, prophecy," she started. "As you are all aware, I'm confident that this is the one we've been waiting for. Annabeth just told me that while on her recent quest, Apollo approached her group and said that he helped us on that front. So I hope that you will all give a small portion of your dinner tonight to him as a thanks."

The Apollo cabin cheered, and Rachel smiled back at them before continuing. "Next, we need to figure out who exactly is going on this quest _—"_

"It's Percy," Piper said. When everyone looked at her, her cheeks turned red. "I mean, apparently you looked straight at him when you recited the thing. And there's a line in it... ' _Half-bloods of the Three_.'"

"Doesn't that just mean three campers? What does that have to do with Jackson?" one of the Ares campers called out. A few people muttered in agreement.

"Because it says of  _the_  three," Piper answered. She sounded more confident now than she did when she first spoke out. "I think it's referring to kids of the Big Three."

Rachel nodded. "Right. Which means it could be either Percy, Nico, Thalia, Jason, or Hazel that can go on this quest."

"Who knows what Thalia and Nico are up to," Leo said. "But Jason and Hazel are over at Camp Jupiter. We could send them and Percy out."

Clarisse stood up. "But what if it has to be all of them? It was seven people for the last Great Prophecy, and before that five people had to go save Annabeth. This could be another one of those quests."

"Hmmm." Everyone turned and looked at Chiron, who had been quiet until now. "Clarisse does have a point. Although I would prefer to only send three of you for this, there is such a low number of demigod children of those three that it could be all of them. However, since we're not exactly sure, why don't we let the one who will actually be on this quest decide?"

Percy blinked. While he had a feeling that the quest was meant for him when he was first listening to it, he didn't think he'd have to make a decision like this. It could make or break how their journey goes for them. "It should be all of us. I don't like the idea of picking and choosing between them."

"Then you should get the preparations started," Chiron replied. "I'll try to contact the Hunters. You should probably head to Camp Jupiter, since the prophecy mentions that you'll be in the west."

Piper's hand suddenly shot to the air. "I'll go. To New Rome with him, I mean. That's okay, right?"

She shared a look with Annabeth, who nodded. "I'll go too. I need to speak to Reyna about something anyway. And It's not like we're going on the actual quest with them, so it should be fine."

It didn't take Percy too long to realize that meant he would be traveling all the way to California with the two people who scared him the most at the moment. And the way that they looked at each other only heightened that fear; they were  _so_  in cahoots over something. Something that most likely involved their awful boyfriends. He almost wanted to object, but he knew that would just make it obvious that he was hiding something. And, honestly, a part of him wanted to tell them all about it while on their way there. Except they wouldn't have a witness, so Percy decided it was safer to keep his mouth shut until they reached the other camp.

The following morning, they were all packed and ready to go. Thalia was in the middle of a hunt and claimed that her duties to Artemis came first, but she said that she would join them as soon as possible. They still had not located Nico yet, although Percy wasn't too worried on that front. The kid had a tendency of showing up when needed. So he and the two girls waved bye to the other campers, boarded the chariot, and began their journey west.

It was so awkward Percy almost jumped off just to have a change of pace. He really wished that someone else had volunteered to go with them, but he doubted that Chiron would have allowed a bigger group to go. If he had any doubts before, they were definitely gone by now. The girls had spoken to each other, and they had their suspicions. But neither of them actually brought them up, and instead watched Percy like a hawk. They were obviously waiting for him to speak first. Or maybe they were waiting for when they had both him and Jason in the same place. Whichever it was, Percy knew that he had to say something and fast.

He watched Annabeth as they traveled. The way the wind blew through her hair, made it whip around her face like leaves floating through the breeze. It would be a blatant lie if he said that she was the only person who ever made his heart race. He had feelings for Calypso and Rachel in the past, but in the end he chose Annabeth over them both. Okay, well, technically Rachel chose being the oracle over him, but he was pretty sure he would have gone with Annabeth either way. Like ninety percent sure. And he knew he was in love with her, especially after what they experienced in Tartarus together. There was literally no way he could replicate that bond with anyone else.

But then there was Jason. And while Percy knew that the feelings were fake, the way that his insides seemed to turn upside down whenever the blond smiled so big his scar disappeared didn't mean anything, he still couldn't ignore it. Even right now, while he was angry with the guy, Percy wanted him. It terrified him that he could feel so strongly about someone who wasn't his girlfriend, and dear gods, he could write a sappy young adult romance novel about his life. That might have been the worst part of it all.

His thoughts went back to what Apollo said, about how Jason had the worst deal of the two. And it really did not make any sense. Here Percy was, surrounded by two girlfriends who were cheated on and who had every right to flip him right off this chariot, and Jason was safe at camp. What information was he missing? Was Jason hiding something from him? The idea what he wasn't sharing the entire story only served to make Percy even madder. How were they supposed to fix things if they didn't tell the truth?

Yes, he is completely aware of the irony in that sentence, shut up.

And although he couldn't say that he knew exactly how Piper and Jason felt about each other, he knew that they were really close. And their relationship hadn't been exactly easy, with the whole Hera planting fake memories into their heads and all. They actually took that a lot better than Percy would have, so he had to compliment them for not ditching her in that cage. Really, he just loved the whole little group that they had going for them and if something like this ruined it he wouldn't know whether to be pissed or upset or a hybrid of the two. So no matter how this ended, Percy decided, he was going to make sure Aphrodite regretted doing this to him. To all of them.

It was a wonder as to how his fatal flaw was being too loyal instead of his tendency of directly challenging the gods. For some reason the latter seemed more likely to get him killed.

It didn't take them too long to reach their destination. Jason and Hazel were already packed and ready to go, but they had to go through a briefing and one of Rome's famous senate meetings. Percy discovered that they were still as fun as the last one he went to, which meant it was not fun at all. It mainly consisted of the usual suspects arguing as to who had to go on the quest, why it had to be them, and the older ghosts complaining about working with Greeks. Percy could have sworn that Octavian's voice had joined in with that set of complaints, but he didn't have the time to deal with the teddy bear murderer at the moment.

After what felt like ages, they all came to the same decision as they had in Camp Half-Blood: The five demigods of the eldest gods would go forth on this quest. Percy, Hazel, and Jason shall leave on their own and the other two, if things went according to plan, would eventually join up with them. Considering the prophecy said they had to move quickly, they couldn't wait around for Thalia and Nico to show up there. They'd leave in the evening.

During the entire discussion, Jason never once looked at Percy. And immediately after it ended he and Piper went off somewhere to do... whatever it is that those two do together. Percy tried not to think too much about that. But he realized now was the best time to talk to Annabeth and tell her. He still wasn't exactly certain what he should actually say, but he knew that he couldn't leave on this quest without admitting to something. There was just something about that prophecy that did not sit right with him.

He scanned the area and spotted Annabeth talking to Reyna. Percy made his way to them, weaving around the other participants of the meeting until he was behind the girl. He politely waited until there was a lull in conversation and tapped Annabeth on the shoulder. She looked surprised, but it faded into understanding and she excused herself. The couple then went outside, and Annabeth lead Percy to a spot he had never been to before.

"Reyna took me here," Annabeth explained. "On my first day here. Then Leo blew up New Rome."

"Ah," Percy said. "Memories."

The two chuckled, but then they quieted down. They both knew that whatever was going to happen right now could change the course of their relationship, and it scared Percy. His thoughts flashed back to what felt like forever ago, when his hand clasped tightly around hers over a cliff. What he had said to her back then, and how they decided right there that they would never be separated again. And it pained him to say what he needed to, but he owed her that much. A voice in the back of his mind kept insisting that he had to talk to Jason first, that he couldn't make this leap without the blond's approval, but Percy ignored it. Jason was clearly ignoring him, so he could wait.

"I lied when I said that nothing was wrong," Percy began. He licked his lips, trying to calm his nerves. "Grover was freaking out because he found out about something. Something that I was keeping from you. It's _—_ Aphrodite cursed me. And Jason. She was mad at us, so she made us do... Kiss and stuff. Sorry."

Frowning, Annabeth took in all the information. The crease between her eyebrows deepened, but she didn't look angry. It was actually the same expression she wore whenever she was figuring out a puzzle, like she was placing the pieces she had been missing until now. When she finally spoke, her tone was even; it reminded Percy of when he had spoken with Piper, or even when Jason hung up on him.

"Is that all, Percy?"

This was the hard part. It was one thing to say that the two hooked up once and that was the end of it, but it was still ongoing. And Percy had no idea when, or if, it would end. But when he opened his mouth to answer, Annabeth suddenly fell forward, smashing into his chest. Startled, Percy wrapped his arms around the girl and gently shook her. "Annabeth? Annabeth, are you okay?"

When she didn't answer, he picked her up bridal style and ran back to the senate. Thankfully, Reyna was still there. He went right to her, calling out her name, and when she saw what was going on she gasped. "Percy? What's wrong?"

"I don't know," he said quickly. "She just fell over. Help!"

They took her to the medics who looked after her. Percy spent the entire time panicking, walking in circles and jumping whenever anyone walked by. Was she okay? What happened? A long line of scenarios played in his head, each one worse than the other. Finally, one of New Rome's doctors approached him and explained that it was nothing to worry about. She was just overworked, exhausted, and needed a couple of days rest. That made him relax, but only slightly. It was exactly the reason why he didn't want to tell her until after things had settled down. What if him telling her about that just made things worse? And he couldn't wait here until she got better to finish confessing, since he had to leave on the quest later that day.

"I think I hate the stars too," he groaned.

When it was time to go, and after Percy made completely sure that Annabeth was just tired and that it really wasn't some life threatening sickness, he went off to meet up with his quest companions. Hazel was saying her goodbyes to Frank, who didn't like the idea of her going without him. Jason was on his own though, and Percy couldn't help but wonder what he and Piper had talked about. The guy did not look happy.

"Is Annabeth okay?" Hazel asked once she spotted Percy. "I heard about it from Reyna..."

"Yeah," Percy answered. "She's just overworked. She should be fine as long as she doesn't secretly try to run a marathon while she's supposed to be resting."

She and Frank sighed in relief and even Jason looked less glum at the news. Then, it got to the point where they could no longer dawdle there. Frank wished them all luck and walked with them to the exit. When they finally left the territory of the Romans, the daughter of Pluto turned to her two friends, her hands on her hips.

"So," she said, "where do we go from here?"

Percy and Jason glanced at each other, the first time they properly acknowledged the other since their argument. Jason stepped forward, his expression a mixture of amused and grim. "We'll do what we always do. Wing it."


	6. Percy Falls Down a Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They keep falling into traps and hands are stuck down pants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to apologize about the long gap between chapters. I suck. I suck so much. So sooooo much. I will try very hard to make sure that the wait time between updates will never be as long as this one was! Okay, so now a few things. I've determined that this fic is going to be 9-10 chapters long. I'm not exactly sure what the final number will be as of yet, but it'll be around that. Second, this chapter has some spoilers for House of Hades. So if you haven't read that book yet and want to remain 100% spoiler free, I suggest not reading this. That's all! Again, I'm so sorry please forgive me.
> 
> Also if any of you are into that, my tumblr is [robinsena](http://robinsena.tumblr.com/) btw.

This quest was the worst thing ever.

That was an exaggeration, of course. Jason had gone through a lot that was much worse. As long as his memories remained intact—screw you, Hera—the demigod figured that he could handle anything. But at the moment, with Percy at his side after everything that happened over the past few days, Jason felt like the world had him pinned down in a headlock with no way out.

Their argument was bad enough. Jason still felt the sting of Percy's words, the one that he spat out with more venom than the blond was accustomed to. And it was ridiculous to be as offended as he was over it; he knew that Percy didn't have any actual feelings for him. It was all just a fabrication of Aphrodite, a goddess who was seriously contending for the very popular position of worst deity ever. Even more, he knew that the guy felt bad for what he said. He kept going out of his way doing weird gentlemanly things, like holding doors open for him and letting Jason behead whatever monster they came across. But Jason still couldn't quite meet his eyes without turning away a few seconds afterward.

The rest of the problem was Piper though. The conversation they had right before he, Percy, and Hazel left on this quest continuously prodded at his mind, practically shouting, "Hey, remember me! I'm that sucky thing that happened that completely ruined your life. Pay attention to me!" It was almost enough to make him want to bang his head against any available hard surface. That would probably make the other two suspicious though, so he kept his inner turmoil to himself because the last thing he wanted to do was reveal that argument with Percy. Hazel, on the other hand…

Hazel and Piper were pretty close, so there was always a chance that she might murder him if she found out about it all. She was also good friends with Percy as well, so if Hazel didn't kill him on Piper's behalf, she could do it for Percy's. But so far she the only person around who wasn't actually personally involved with the situation, which meant that she would have the least biased opinion out of all of them. Still, the thought of approaching her on the subject wasn't one that Jason was particularly fond of.

He watched as she and Percy stood over a grease stained map they got from a gas station. They were arguing over where they should head for their next destination; the prophecy they received wasn't very specific on where they had to go except that they were there before. The problem with that set of instructions was the fact that they have all went to so many places on previous quests, that all they could do was visit them one by one until they got a better clue. They were traveling down the span of California at the moment, half searching for anything suspicious and half waiting for the other two demigods to join them.

Thalia was another person he could talk to, and she had the added bonus of already knowing about the entire situation. With the exception of the recent Piper stuff, anyway. But there was no way of knowing exactly when they will bump into her, and if there was one thing Jason knew, it was that anything could happen in a few days. Then there was Nico, and—okay. Yeah. There was  _no_ way in Hades that Jason was going to admit to him that he liked Percy. The thought of doing so actually made him laugh, short and humorless, and the sound attracted the attention of his two companions.

"What's so funny over there?" Hazel asked, blowing a few strands of hair out of her face. An encounter with some particularly energetic nymphs left her hair especially frazzled, so she kept messing with it in an effort to tame the mess. It never worked.

"Nothing," Jason lied. "Have you guys figured anything out yet?"

"I think we need to leave the state. We've been wandering around for three days now and nothing has turned up. Wherever we need to go, I doubt it's here," she said, then looked uncertainly over at Percy. "We've been talking about where to go next and…"

"Vegas. We think we should go to Vegas."

Jason looked between the two of them. They both wore grim expressions on their faces as if what they just said was the worst news in the history of really terrible news. There was something about Las Vegas that he knew should make him as apprehensive as them, but he couldn't recall it at the moment. Something that had happened on one of Percy's earlier quests.

"There are plenty of other places we could search," he said. "Why there?"

"I had a dream," Percy replied, his voice sounding uncertain. "It—I think we should go there. We'll definitely find something."

It hit him then. Vegas was where that hotel was, the one where Nico and his sister spent over half a century in. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover had been trapped there as well, although not for nearly as long. But no wonder the two of them seemed so nervous; the Lotus Hotel was most likely not very high on their list of places to visit. But if it gave them some kind of clue as to what exactly they had to do here, they couldn't ignore the possibility.

"Vegas it is then," Jason agreed. "Let's go."

It was easier said than done.

Almost immediately after the decision was made to head towards Nevada, the trio became bombarded with monster attack after monster attack. It was as if they were waiting for them to change course for that direction, which was both a good and bad thing. Good because it meant they were possibly going the right way and bad because they were getting attacked all the time. And it was easy to fall into a comfortable rhythm besides Percy, to cover his blind spots and yell out friendly taunts whenever an enemy fell at their blade. It felt like how things used to be, before everything became whatever it was now.

Except whenever Percy stepped a little too close, Jason found himself backing immediately away. He would go out of his way to make sure Hazel was kept between them, like some sort of oblivious shield to this problem. And the other guy could tell what was going on, it was evident in the way his eyes would widen then narrow every time Jason forcefully stopped himself from patting Percy on the arm after a particularly difficult battle. He thought that maybe Hazel was catching on as well; her curious glances between them became more frequent the further they went. Maybe Percy said something to her. The idea bothered Jason more than it should have.

They found an abandoned house near the California and Nevada border. It was less of a house and more of a shack, actually, but Jason was willing to call it a palace with how tired he was. The electricity was turned off, but luckily a well sat behind the place in a wilting garden so they wouldn't dehydrate. While Hazel set up their sleeping bags in the cramped living room, Jason poured over the map. He could sense Percy at his side before he actually saw him, but he ignored him. Percy cleared his throat. Then again. And again. He probably would have done it a fourth time, but Jason finally turned to him.

"What?" he muttered low enough so Hazel wouldn't hear.

"Hey," Percy said. "We haven't really talked since, uh. You know."

Jason snorted. "I'm kind of busy here, Jackson. Can we deal with that later?"

"What's wrong with right now?"

A lot of things. The fact that Hazel was barely ten feet away, easily able to eavesdrop whether she meant to or not. Or that they should be focusing on finishing this quest and pushing aside anything that might jeopardize the mission. Or because Jason definitely did not want to have this conversation at this particular moment, or possibly ever. If he explained why he was upset then Percy would know the truth, and that was the last thing Jason wanted to happen. He was safe as long as the other demigod thought that they were both under a spell.

He wondered if his fatal flaw was actually stressing over things too much. He knew that the others often thought he was too serious, too uptight, and it was times like this that made him think they were right. How would Leo react if he was in his place? Then he pictured Leo and Percy passionately making out and he decided to jump off that train of thought immediately. No. No no no.

He let his eyes travel down Percy's figure. He looked too skinny under the faint lighting of the lantern, like he was smaller than he actually was, and Jason knew that was a ridiculous thought. Everything he was thinking was ridiculous. Especially since even if this had happened to someone else instead of him, like Leo—oh gods no—nothing would be different for Percy. The situation would remain exactly the same, only with a different face, and that bothered Jason more than anything else. His mind wandered back to Piper and pushed the thought away.

"Just not now," he finally replied. Percy looked like he was about to argue, but instead he went over to Hazel. Kind of grumpily, too, which was cute.

Not cute. Whatever.

He traced his finger along their chosen path. It stretched through the desert, and he hoped they wouldn't run into anything dangerous along the way. They were hoping to find a ride and get to Vegas quickly, but Jason didn't want to place too much faith into that plan. He needed more than two hands to count how many times they went, "Hey, let's do this one thing because clearly this plan will never fail us and nothing will go wrong along the way! Wait, are those giant bird ladies coming to attack us?"

So. Backup plans were a necessity. All three of them had horses they could call if needed—something they all laughed about when they realized it on day two of their journey—but they preferred to keep that as plan C. Summoning any of them was a hit or miss strategy, so they didn't want to place too much reliance on their furry and/or stormy buddies.

He also had his fingers crossed for Nico and Thalia to show up. They updated each other on their location via Iris Message, although Nico's conversations were briefer than Jason's sister's. That was to be expected though, so Jason didn't mind the lack of details coming from him. But it would be nice to have different perspectives join them, especially ones who weren't attached to either of the camps. Those two did things differently than the rest of them.

When Jason looked over his shoulder, he found that he was alone in the room. Their gear was all neatly set up, and he figured there was only one place they could be. Setting the map aside, he exited the shack and walked the length to the well in the back. And just like he thought, the pair was peering over the edge of it, talking amongst themselves. They were doing a lot of that these days. When Jason came over, they stopped.

They were doing that a lot too.

"What's up?" he said in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner.

"I think I hear something coming down there," Hazel said. Her hand was once again tugging at her hair; at this point she was probably doing it more out of habit than in an effort to fix it. "It sounded like a snarl."

"It could be a cat," Percy offered, although he didn't sound entirely convinced of what he was saying. "A very wet cat."

"We both know it's not a cat," she rolled her eyes. "Tell him it's not a cat."

"It's not a cat," Jason said. "If it's not bothering us then shouldn't we just leave it alone?"

"If we do then we can't get any water," Hazel sighed. "Oh well, maybe we should just let it be. I'm too sore to fight anything."

Jason was near enough now that he could look down as well. The structure was pretty small, only jutting out of the ground a foot or two so it would have been easy for a small animal to tumble down. The idea of creatures splashing around in the drinking water wasn't a very tempting one though. But when he strained his ears the noise that Hazel described became apparent. It was low but harsh, and it sounded absolutely nothing like a cat. Maybe a tiger. Vegas had a lot of shows that featured the large cat, so maybe one of them escaped and decided to take a swim. That actually sounded more appealing than any of the other options that were more likely.

"What if it needs help?" Percy said quietly. He was squinting into the darkness, like he was trying to make out shapes. "I don't like the idea of something drowning when I could easily get it out."

That was one of the many admirable traits about Percy that Jason greatly appreciated, except right now the situation screamed of a trap. But there was the slim possibility that it was a stranded tiger, and if it turned out that was the case… Ugh. Being one of the good guys caused more problems than it solved sometimes. But it would be worth it if they saved someone.

"Okay," he and Hazel said at the same time.

Percy nodded at the both of them and carefully stood on top of the ledge of the well. He shrugged, as if this wasn't an extremely terrible idea that would end with them cursing a lot, and jumped in. Hazel and Jason instantly leaned in, trying to see into the darkness and Jason really wished he thought to bring the lantern with him when he came out. He considered running back for it when the water erupted out of the well, throwing the two of them back twenty feet into the air. Jason landed with a hard thud against the shack's wall; something cracked, but he wasn't sure if it was him or the rickety foundation. He could hear Hazel groaning from the other side of the yard, but all he could see was stars and haze. Then everything snapped into focus once he realized what happened.

"Percy," he grunted, getting back onto his feet. It was most definitely, positively not a cat down there. Of course there wasn't. Why did they even think that it could be something that didn't want to kill them? One of these days they would learn. Probably not.

He raced back to the well, passing by Hazel along the way. She was spitting up water, and he slowed down to help her but she gestured for him to keep going. She also knew that Percy was the immediate priority at the moment. He jumped onto the ledge of the well, and there was nothing. Not a sound carried from its depths, and that made Jason panic. Something was clearly going on down there, but usually that came with loud banging and roars and stuff. Silence was never good when it came to battle. Anything could happen in silence.

"Percy," he yelled down, hoping that the older teen would shout something back. When no sound was returned, Jason looked over to Hazel. She was limping slightly—she must have landed badly. "I'm going down."

"Wait," she said. "Take me with you. I'm better underground than the both of you."

He nodded. Hurrying over, he grasped her by the waist, and then lowered them down the well. As they went down, he noticed that there was a very strong scent attached to the stone walls. He couldn't place it, except that it smelled terrible. The farther down they went, the stronger the smell became until the two were gagging into their hands. And how deep did this thing go? He didn't think it should be this far down. This was the most obvious trap ever and they still fell for it.

After what felt like forever, their feet hit solid ground. He almost slipped, but regained his composure and tightened his grip on Hazel. Letting her put her weight on him, they both stumbled in the dark, following Hazel's directions. He could barely see a thing in front of him, and once again he missed Leo's presence on these sorts of adventures. Although whether or not his fire would actually work in such damp surroundings was an entirely different question.

A noise rang out ahead of them, like metal against rock. They both exchanged a look—Jason thought they did, anyway, it was really hard to tell—and hurried their pace. When they got closer, they could hear everything more clearly. It was definitely Percy, but he sounded agitated. Never a good sign. It took them longer than he liked to get down here, and anything could happen in a manner of minutes.

When they turned a corner, they came across very dim lighting, as if there was some sort of torch hanging high above their heads. Percy was ahead of them as well and, more startling, what looked like a giant goldfish. Jason was too busy gaping at the creature to notice that the water level was much higher here, so when he and Hazel entered the area they were caught by surprise when the water suddenly hit their armpits.

The goldfish's eyes widened when it spotted them. "I thought you said you were alone!" Its voice was rather cartoony, like it inhaled helium, and Jason had to stop himself from laughing. Laughing at unknown giant monsters was bad.

"I was at first," Percy said sheepishly, nervously glancing at them before returning his attention back to the fish. "I pinky swear."

"I don't have any pinkies," the fish wailed in anguish, which was, well—not what Jason was expecting when he came down here. At all.

"We've established this," Percy replied, "like ten times already. Look, we're just passing through. We don't want to fight."

"Oh, that's what that tiger said!"

So there was a tiger. Okay. Unexpected, but okay.

Percy sighed. "Well, tigers don't have any pinkies so their promises aren't as good as mine. Do I look like the kind of guy who would double-cross you?"

The goldfish appeared to be thinking about it. "Yes."

"Oh."

"Uh," Hazel said. "Sorry to interrupt, but what exactly is going on here?"

"This is Ketos Nevada," Percy explained calmly. "He's trying to figure out if he wants to eat me or not."

Jason frowned. "Aren't Ketea supposed to be… bigger?"

The monster started to cry.

It suddenly became very apparent why it was deeper in this section of the tunnel than in the others. Every drop of tear made the water level surge upwards. It was up to Hazel's shoulders now, and she didn't look very happy at that. Jason wondered if the well water came from the monster crying, and he was grateful they didn't actually drink any of it.

But he understood why Percy was hesitant to destroy it. This was a monster that was supposed to be some fearsome beast of the sea, yet here it was, hanging out in some abandoned well miles away from the ocean. And instead of attacking them, it just sat around sobbing. Yeah, Percy said that the guy was debating turning them into its lunch, but still, it was the principle of the thing.

"That's what everyone says," Ketos sniffled. "I'm just a late bloomer."

"How old are you?" Hazel asked.

"A little over three thousand."

"Ah."

All three of them shared a look. It was clear that Ketos wasn't going to let them just mosey on out without some sort of hassle, but it was cold down here and neither he nor Hazel had Percy's neat trick of staying dry in the water. But he wasn't exactly crazy of the idea of slicing the monster up without it outright attacking them first. It just had that kind of face.

"What was with that water show earlier?" Jason asked. "You nearly drowned Hazel and me."

"We sort of surprised each other," Percy shrugged. "My bad."

Jason rolled his eyes and was about to make some sort of joke when he remembered that he was supposed to be mad at Percy still. Except it was hard to stay angry, and he just wanted to kiss him or something equally as dumb and that was not something he should be thinking about at the moment. Or ever. Those thoughts are what brought trouble to him, and Jason did not need to make this quest even more difficult than it already was.

Percy was still looking at him. With the bad lighting it was hard to tell, but Jason was almost certain that his eyes were on Jason's hands that were wrapped tightly around Hazel. Percy wasn't there when the girl was injured, so he was probably wondering why they were huddling so closely to each other. Jason kept his mouth shut. He didn't owe him any kind of explanation, especially when he wasn't getting any in return.

Ketos finally stopped crying. "Okay, I think I'm feeling better now."

"Great," Percy said happily. "Now, if you'll just excuse us—"

"I think I'm going to eat you now."

It took a moment for the words to sink in, and then suddenly the oversized fish was lunging at Percy. The son of Poseidon easily sidestepped the blow, being in his domain, and struck at Ketos with Riptide. It was a smooth motion, and Jason had to admire how effortlessly Percy fought while in the water. It was electrifying, really, and he wondered if that was what he looked like when he was also truly in his element.

"Head back out," Percy yelled at them. "Things are about to get very wet around here."

"Oh, like it wasn't already," Hazel muttered, but the two of them started for the exit. Jason didn't like the idea of leaving everything to the other demigod. His instincts were to stay and fight, but the water was extremely high now and there was no way he could hang onto Hazel and swing a sword simultaneously. At the very least, he had to get Hazel out of danger.

He half ran, half swam, towards the exit, Hazel warning him whenever he got close to hitting a stone wall. The sound of fighting was never too far behind, which was both a relief and not. If they didn't hurry, Percy and the goldfish would be right upon them and that would ruin whatever the hell the guy was planning.

When they finally reached the opening of the well, the air erupted with what sounded like a bomb. And Jason immediately knew that whatever Percy was planning had just happened, so he tightened his grip on Hazel and went up. Water shot up after him and, to his horror, he realized that the well was beginning to collapse as well. What just happened? He slowed down, realizing that Percy was still down there and he could get stuck, but there was no way he could turn around without becoming trapped himself. Cursing, he flew out into open air and gently set Hazel down onto the ground a distance away from the well. As quickly as he could manage, he dashed back to the structure.

Water erupted out of it for the second time, only this time bits of stone and dirt flew out as well. He had to duck to avoid a rather large rock slamming into his face. With all the debris flying about, it was difficult to get too close. When he finally reached the well, Jason yelled down into its depths, panic sneaking into his voice. "Percy? Are you down there?"

A groan sounded somewhere to his left, and Jason squinted in that direction. And there Percy was, lying on his back on the wet ground, his chest rising and falling as he tried to steady his breathing. Jason let out a sigh of relief and rushed to his side, sliding down onto his knees to get a better look. Percy's forehead was bleeding from a nasty gash; he probably got hit in the head with some falling stones while escaping. But other than that he seemed fine, and Jason was more relieved than he could say. He was happy.

"You idiot,"Jason finally managed to say. "I thought you were buried alive."

"Hazel would have saved me," Percy said casually, although he winced at the last word. "Can't say much about you though."

"Shut up."

They both laughed, and Jason once again remembered that he was supposed to be angry. But that was stupid. He couldn't be angry about it anymore, and the two of them had to talk about this. As much as Jason would rather jump back down the well to face off against Ketos, this was one conversation that he could not avoid for the rest of his life. Aphrodite's words still rang in his ears: He was the one who would put an end to this curse. It was up to him to figure this all out, and that would be impossible if he ran away every time Percy looked at him.

"Are you okay?" Hazel asked, limping over to them. Jason was about to answer when he noticed that she wasn't alone. In fact, there was a very familiar boy right behind her, his arms out to hold her steady. An _extremely_  familiar boy.

Jason moved slightly away from Percy. "Nico? When did you get here?"

Nico was silent for a moment, looking between Jason and Percy. "Right around the time you dropped my sister then ran to help Percy. I can see you've been having a busy day."

"Just your average Wednesday," Percy grinned.

"It's Sunday."

"Same thing."

Jason couldn't help but notice the way Nico's gaze never shifted from the space between him and Percy. That plan to finally have that conversation with Percy might be somewhat harder to achieve now.

* * *

"And you're sure it was Las Vegas?" Nico asked. Again.

"Pretty sure, yeah," Percy said. "Look, I wouldn't be suggesting it if I wasn't positive that was what I saw in my dream. There's someone in a hotel there that we have to meet."

Hazel nibbled on a french fry. "Yeah, but which one? That section of Vegas is made up of almost entirely of hotels."

The four of them sat inside a cozy diner along the highway. They managed to hitch a ride with a nice couple on vacation. They recognized Percy from a few years ago when he was constantly on the news. They just couldn't remember what the news was  _about,_ which was a good thing since Percy had frequently been wanted by the police because of half-blood shenanigans.

"That I don't know. Pass me the hot sauce."

They had been arguing about this since Nico's arrival. Jason didn't blame the guy for not trusting the information—he was pretty sure that he would be just as nervous if he was in his shoes. Even Percy was fidgety about it, although he tried his best to act casual whenever the topic was brought up. None of them were fans of being played though, and they all agreed that they were most likely walking into yet another trap. But this was definitely the kind that they could not avoid.

Just like Jason had thought, he hadn't had a chance to talk to Percy either. It didn't even have to do with not having a moment alone with him—he actually had plenty of opportunities to pull the guy aside to chat. But he just felt guilty about it with Nico around. The son of Hades had a crush on Percy for longer than Jason had known either of them, so it just felt unfair to him. And Nico kept giving him weird looks, as if he knew something was going on but he wasn't exactly sure what. Jason remembered that some of the gods were aware of what was going on, and there was always the chance that Hades found out as well. Would he have told Nico? Was he the gossipy type? Having never actually met him, Jason wasn't entirely sure. He doubted it though.

It wasn't like he was going to confess his undying love or anything. Jason just wanted to get a few things out in the open, and he felt that Percy deserved to know what happened with Piper. It was, after all, almost entirely his fault. But every time he remembered Nico was nearby his stomach would twist in guilt, and Jason would immediately back away.

There were about an hour away from their destination as long as nothing went wrong. And then once they got to the city they would have to somehow narrow down which hotel they would have to meet whoever the mysterious mythical person of the week was. They decided to save the Lotus for last. Since they were all aware of the kind of place it was, they weren't likely to fall under its spell. Still, they didn't want to take the risk unless it was necessary.

"And if Vegas isn't the answer," Nico said as he sipped some water, "what do we do then?"

Jason thought about it. "Then we just run around the country until we figure out where we need to be. Isn't that how most quests work, anyway?"

"We do have a general idea of where we're going," Hazel added. "We made a list of all the places we've been to on previous quests. You can add onto it, and when Thalia shows up she can too."

Jason just hoped that she'd be here soon. With their team incomplete like this, it felt vulnerable. If they interpreted the prophecy correctly, then it had to be all of them or bust. So how badly would it end up if they didn't reunite fast enough? "Right. So after Vegas, we just go to the next nearest thing."

"Oh gods," Percy suddenly yelled. "Does this mean we have to go back to Alaska?"

He and Hazel shared a look of contempt. Jason could already tell that this quest was going to be a long one.

When the group finally reached the city, they parted with the couple who were still trying to figure out where they knew Percy from. He managed to convince them that he had a fledgling acting career when he was younger, but gave it up to persuade a dream of studying ancient mythology, so they were likely going to attempt to Google his name the first chance they get. Oh boy, that was going to be good. It was early afternoon, so the streets weren't as busy as they could have been. Which, of course, wasn't really saying much, but if Jason could handle New York's sidewalks then he could do this.

Figuring out which hotel was the one they needed was as annoying as they thought it would be. They went into every single one they walked by; some were absolutely gorgeous, with chandeliers that spanned entire ceilings and people fluttering around in fancy clothes that probably cost more than what was in Jason's bank account.

"You don't have a bank account," Percy said.

"You know what I mean."

They were sitting outside of a cheaper one. It had a questionable smell that clung to the air, one that actually reminded Jason of the well they had come across earlier. If anything, that told him to leave immediately. But since this area was less crowded than the others, they decided to take a short break to come up with some sort of game plan. One that didn't involve Nico almost getting kidnapped by a gang of cackling showgirls, or a ringleader who tried really hard to get them to join his circus. Jason was almost positive that was illegal, but Percy actually seemed to be considering it.

"It might be fun," was all he said when he was later asked about it.

"I don't think this is really working out," Hazel sighed. "Maybe we should split up and look?"

She didn't sound entirely too convinced that was the right course of action. None of them were that wild about it, but they would cover more ground that way. Even more, they were less likely to be detected by any monsters. Quests were normally done in groups of three because multiple demigods together attracted unwanted question. The fact that every single one of them was the child of one of the Big Three made it ten times worse—it was a miracle that they weren't being swarmed every minute of the day. Not that Jason was complaining. He was a pretty big fan of not having to dodge fireballs while he's trying to eat pizza.

"How about you and Percy check out the ones on the right side of the road, and Jason and I do the left?" Nico suggested.

Jason froze. Why did Nico want to be alone with him? Did he somehow figure out about the Percy thing? Or did he already know? Admittedly, Jason was one of the few who didn't think Nico was Creeper McCreep Creepston, but the idea of being alone with him during this particular time period was not one he was very fond of. But he couldn't exactly object to it openly, especially since he was the only one who knew why this pairing might end badly. So he just nodded along with the rest.

The walk was extremely quiet and awkward, just like Jason expected it to be. Nico never said anything to suggest that he might be onto something though. There was a chance that there was no actual meaning behind the way Nico grouped them together. Yeah, it was still sort of odd that he wouldn't want to go with either Percy or Hazel since he was closer to them than he was Jason. But the blond had to remember not everyone had some sort of secret agenda attached to all of their actions.

They were on their fifth hotel when Nico suddenly grasped Jason's forearm, his touch so light it was almost as if it wasn't there. When Jason turned around to face him, the son of Hades immediately dropped his hand. He looked deeply conflicted, like he wanted to be anywhere except for here, and Jason realized that he did have an agenda after all.

"Are you and Percy okay?" he muttered. It sounded as if he was physically forcing the words out of his mouth, like he had to tug each syllable out into the open one by one or else they'd never be spoken. And that was probably the case, honestly, and Jason could definitely relate to it.

It wasn't really a direct way of asking about the situation. Nico most likely didn't want to know the details. He was a pretty private person, which was actually an understatement; Nico would rather tie himself and his secrets to an anchor and throw it overboard than admit to anything. While he most likely heard or noticed something, he also didn't want to pry. Jason appreciated it, but he also did not want to talk about this with Nico. At least, not until he had spoken to Percy. He'd see where they are with all of this then.

"We're fine," Jason said. It wasn't really a lie. They had been fine ever since Percy defeated Ketos, or as close to it as they could be. If Nico had shown up while Jason was still ignoring him, then he might have said, "Oh, I hate him and he smells like fish and also I want to flutter my eyelashes at him whenever he's around, tee hee."

"Right," Nico said. He didn't say anything else on the subject.

When the exited the building they found Hazel waving frantically at them from across the street. She kept pointing at a hotel behind her with her other hand; it looked like she and Percy found the one they were looking for. Nico and Jason jogged over to her.

"Where's Percy?" Jason and Nico asked at the same time. Hazel raised an eyebrow at them, and they both averted their eyes. Great.

"He's inside," she explained. "Just… Come on, you'll see."

They exchanged a look and followed her in. It appeared to be a normal hotel, with high ceilings and guests bustling about here and there. Percy stood in front of the front desk, his hands buried in his pockets as he spoke with the concierge. Everything seemed fine until they reached the two of them and Jason realized why they thought this was the place.

The girl had a green hue to her skin that meant she was either really sick or she might not be entirely human. Her ears had a slight point to them, and in her thick blonde hair sat acorns and berries. So, yeah. She was most likely a nymph or just super into nature. Granted, there was a relatively high chance it could be the latter. Jason had seen some pretty weird fashion trends in California.

"Like I said, Mr. Jackson, we don't have any available rooms—"

She broke off mid-sentence once she noticed them approach. Her eyes widened a fraction when she saw Jason, and a shy smile formed on her lips. Turning her attention fully on him, the concierge casually flipped her hair over her shoulder. An acorn flew out of it, hitting the receptionist next to her in the eye. "Are you his friends?"

Percy looked stricken at the sudden change of demeanor. "Yeah, they are. This is—"

"My name is Susan," she interrupted. "How may I help you today?"

"Uh," Jason intelligently replied. "We wanted rooms, but I heard you saying you didn't have any."

"Don't be silly," she said. "I can find some for you right away."

By now Percy was looking murderous and Hazel was practically wheezing in laughter. Jason just sort of shuffled his feet. "Thanks, Susan. By the way, do you know if there are any… godlike guests here?"

She frowned. "You mean, like a celebrity? We can't give out that information."

"More like an actual god," Hazel said after she finally managed to control her giggling. "We're not sure which one though."

"Oh," she looked thoughtful. "We might have a few of those here. This is a pretty popular location, you know. I still couldn't give out their names though. Company policy, and all that. I'm so sorry."

She said the last part to Jason, her eyes big and full of genuine apology. Then she seemed to remember that the others were there and she cleared her throat. "Right. So two rooms then? Does that sound good?"

"Peachy," Percy said dryly.

Susan ignored him, typing on her computer. After a moment, she returned her gaze to Jason, a large smile on her face. "All done. Here are your keys, and your rooms are on the sixth floor."

The four of them stared at the keys. Jason hesitantly reached out for them before pulling back. "Don't we have to pay for them?"

"Oh, that's been taken care of."

Well, that wasn't suspicious at all. He considered saying no thanks, but that wouldn't be productive. So Jason took the keys. Susan's fingers unnecessarily brushed against his. It actually took her a couple of seconds to let go, and Jason found himself having a mini tug of war that ended up with her hand tangled in his. The other three watched with amused expressions on their faces, although Percy's was mixed with a different emotion as well. Jason tried not to be too pleased about that.

When he finally managed to wrestle the keys away from Susan, they waved goodbye and headed towards the elevators. Percy's shoulders kept bumping into his own even though they had more than enough room to walk in the wide hallways. Jason whispered, "Subtle."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Grace."

When they reached their two rooms, they paused at the doors. From what Susan had told them, the rooms were a double so they should split into another group of two. Hazel looked somewhat uneasy. "Normally I'd have no problems with sleeping with you, but Frank might be a bit upset if I stayed in a hotel alone with a guy. So how about Nico and I take one room and you two have the other?"

Percy blinked. "But Nico's a guy."

"He's my brother. He doesn't count as a guy."

Nico frowned at the words, but when he thought everyone looked away his features softened. He probably was really happy that Hazel considered him a real brother; Jason knew that a lot of demigods didn't really put much weight on their siblings on the godly side except for the whole no dating rule. Piper often told him that she didn't actually feel related to the other members of the Aphrodite cabin.

Jason and Percy waited until their friends enter their room before opening their door. It was pretty extravagant. The kind of room that hotels put on their brochures, with windows that cover entire walls and lush carpets that your feet could sink into. Jason was sure that he would find a pool size jacuzzi if he checked out the bathroom, but there was something extremely distracting. Or to be more specific, it was the lack of something that was.

"There's only one bed," Percy said. Jason expected some sort of emotional response, like maybe anger or embarrassment, but Percy said it as if he was reciting the weather report. The demigod actually sauntered over it, poked the mattress a few time, then practically jumped onto the bed. He bounced once, twice, before looking at the blond. "I approve."

Now, there were a lot of things running through Jason's mind at that very moment. Most of them he regretted almost instantly because they were terrible thoughts that he should not have been thinking at any circumstances ever. Instead of saying any of them, he gingerly sat next to Percy on the bed. The space between them was a statement, a loud exclamation point that served as a warning. Neither of them inched closer or farther apart, but their eyes were locked on it.

"So," Percy said, "can we talk about it now?"

Jason glanced at the doorway, as if something or someone would burst through it any second. When no such thing happened, he figured that he might as well get this over with. "Yeah. Yeah, we can talk about it now."

"Annabeth is feeling better. She messaged me when Piper and I were in the Hilton. And then the staff chased us out because they thought I was some crazy homeless guy talking to their water fountain."

"That's good," Jason nodded. "Piper and I broke up."

"Oh, I se— _you and Piper did what?"_

Jason shrugged and hoped it displayed indifference. "It happened after that conversation we had. She wasn't entirely convinced you were telling the truth, and then we talked and… I admitted to what kind of curse it was. And she was mad, but actually really understanding about the whole thing? But I told her that I didn't want to do anything to hurt her while we were together, so I just kind of. Broke up with her."

"Broke up with her," Percy repeated lamely.

"At least until we get this solved. I think she understood that it wasn't a permanent thing, but she was obviously pretty upset. We haven't spoken since it happened."

Percy's face turned to a shade of green that rivaled Susan's. He took a deep breath, let it out, then leaned down so that his back was against the bed. "I'm so, so, so sorry. It's all my fault."

"Kind of, yeah," Jason agreed. "But it's mine too."

"No wonder you didn't want to talk to me. I'm the worst friend ever."

That wasn't the only reason he had been ignoring him, but Jason kept that to himself. He wasn't ready to admit to that yet. "I should have told you earlier."

They were quiet after that. Jason looked down over Percy as the other teen was sprawled across the bed, scowling deeply at the news he just received. Jason wondered about how easily he could do something that he would regret later. He leaned over and kissed him.

Almost instantly his mind began screaming at him, yelling, "This is the stupidest thing you have ever done, stop. Cease and desist. Oh gods, you deserve bad things to happen to you." Jason told his mind to shut up and that he would happily accept the consequences of feeling like the biggest asshole alive afterward, but right now he was very interested in how salty Percy's lips tasted. Kind of like pretzels. Wet, oceany pretzels. Scratch that, that sounded disgusting. Kissing wasn't disgusting though, that was nice.

Percy didn't do anything at first; he was probably too surprised to do anything other than make dying giraffes noises. But he soon fell into the kiss like it was the most natural thing to do. And it was strange. Every other time they did this, it was frantic and messy and rough, like they were acting on a time limit and had to get everything over with before someone waltzed in all, "Hey guys, I'm going to make this awkward!"

But this was nice and slow, with tongues lazily brushing against each other and the occasional tooth clinking against tooth. Percy abruptly started to laugh, and then he tried to continue kissing while laughing, and that ended up with Jason obtaining a bloody lip. Percy licked the blood away, so there was no complaints from Jason's end.

He had shifted so he was hovering over Percy, both of his legs on either side of him. His lips drifted downwards, to speckles kisses along Percy's jawline to his neck. He halted at the neckline of the guy's shirt and tugged uselessly at the hem of it. Percy lifted himself from the bed so he could remove it from his body then settled back down.

"This is a terrible idea," Percy said. "Someone is going to suddenly walk in on us and then we're going to freak out and the cycle will continue forever."

"At least we're consistent."

He laughed again, but it was cut off as Jason began to suck on his bottom lip. His hands raked across Percy's chest, pressing deep into the skin so that it might bruise. He wasn't sure why, but he kind of like the idea of bruises. People would assume they came from all their constant fighting, yet Jason would know the truth. Only Jason. Yeah, he definitely liked that idea. His hands moved down until they reached the fabric of Percy's jeans. He hooked his fingers through the belt loops. Then paused. And realized there was a better use for his hands.

His hand slide onto Percy's crotch, and he palmed hard through the fabric. Percy's eyelashes fluttered, and Jason was surprised at how nice that looked and then mentally started to cry because he thought blinking was attracted now. Just why. But he just moved his hand more roughly, and Percy actually began to arch into the touch. He thrusted slightly, and Jason wanted to punch himself because now he was unzipping Percy's jeans and sticking his hand down them to wrap it around his hardening cock.

"This is a terrible idea," he muttered.

"I said that already," Percy panted. His pupils were blown wide and he looked like twelve different levels of obscene, yet he still couldn't shut his mouth when it came to being a shit.

"Should I stop then?"

"I swear to gods if you don't finish what you started I am going to give you the most awe inspiring swirl of all time."

Jason pretended to weigh the options, but it didn't last long until he was yanking Percy's pants and boxers all the way down. He looked down at his naked body and had another moment of panic. Like, okay, he was technically single now. He still felt like the worst boyfriend in all of the cosmos, but he was single so he wasn't doing anything wrong. But Percy wasn't, and Jason was taking advantage of that, and oh hey when did his hand start stroking that. It felt weird at first, but after using Percy's precome the action became more smooth. His hand moved faster and Percy flat out moaned into his ear, loud and filthy, and Jason momentarily forgot all about girlfriends and how this could and  _would_ go wrong for the both of them.

Percy came and it splattered against Jason's clothes and dripped through his fingers, and the blond's first instinct was to wipe it off but he didn't. Instead he pulled down his own pants and, with his hand still sticky with Percy, jacked himself off. He glanced up to see Percy watching intently, his lips quirked up into an amused smirk. When Jason was close, Percy suddenly moved forward and licked the underside of Jason's erection. Somewhere out there, Aphrodite was probably wiping away a tear of joy.

It was like—okay. This was the beginning of one of those school PSAs where kids and teenagers were warned about doing things that would ruin their lives and make them drop out of school. Jason could already picture the cautionary tales that would be make about them: "Don't piss off a god or else you too will be casually hooking up with taken people! Don't do drugs, kids." But at that moment, he didn't care. And he usually cared. He always over thought things and the consequences they could produce, but right then there was only one thing that seemed to matter.

He stepped off the bed, one his fingers delicately wrapped around Percy's wrist, and he began to walk to the bathroom. Percy cussed and stumbled after him, but he didn't make any other complaints. It turned out that Jason was right because that bathtub was huge. Ketos probably could have made a home out of it. He peeked down the drain just to make sure Ketos did not make a home out of it.

It took a while, but they filled the tub to the top then both stepped inside. Percy insisted on bubbles, which ended up being blue to his delight. Jason found that odd, but he didn't voice the concern in case it might ruin the moment. He knew that pretty soon the two of them would be rolling around in a pool of guilt, so it was best to try not to make that happen sooner. They sat on opposite ends of the tub, and they fell into another round of silence that was comfortable.

Then came the knock.

Percy groaned. "If we ignore it do you think they'll go away?"

And another knock.

Rolling his eyes, Percy dramatically stood up from the tub, making the water slosh out over the edge and onto the ground. He stepped out, willing himself to instantly dry. With an apologetic look towards Jason, he exited the bathroom. Jason could hear him shuffling around, presumably putting his clothes back on because opening the door while naked was frowned upon in this part of the world.

After a good couple of minutes, Percy came back. He looked sheepish now, as if what they had done was now creeping at him. They were probably going to start acting nervously around each other for a little while. He stayed at the door frame. "Your sister's here."

Well. Jason  _did_  say he wanted her to show up.


	7. We Practice Good Dental Hygiene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They see a familiar face and continue to have absolute zero luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Francy," you say, "didn't you say you were going to get this chapter up in January?" Well, my reader, it's February which I think is close enough to January. So we're all good. This chapter is more of a buffer than anything, so the story will move a lot more forward next update. As always, I lack a beta so please forgive all of my terrible mistakes.

The five of them sat huddled in Percy and Jason’s hotel room, spread out on the sofas and large bed. When Thalia had first settled on top of the mattress, Percy felt a surge of panic. After all, he and the son of Jupiter had only recently done _things_ on that bed. And Thalia was one of the few people who knew about the Aphrodite situation, so if anyone could pick up on what just happened, it would be her.

She didn’t say anything when she first walked into the room though. She simply dumped her bags onto the ground next to the door, and then went to drag Nico and Hazel over from their room. Jason barely had enough time to put his clothes back on, cursing under his breath as he struggled to yank his jeans back up. Percy did his best not to watch the movements, he really did. But his head was still fuzzy from the high of touching him and he couldn’t help but let his eyes memorize the way Jason’s back arched as he bent.

He was in so much trouble.

His mind was still attempting to process everything that had happened in the last hour. Jason and Piper were no longer together. That was probably a temporary matter, they were certain to date again once this was fixed. But that changed things. Because now Jason could technically do whatever he wanted, like how he leaned over and pressed his lips against Percy’s. He could do that, and while he’d still probably feel guilty over it, he wouldn’t get in trouble.

Percy, on the other hand, was still very much dating Annabeth. That was something he knew very well when he did—stuff. All that stuff. With Jason. The moment Thalia’s knock resounded through the room, Percy had been brought back to reality. He both regretted what he did and didn’t. It was confusing. He really wanted that stupid bubble bath.

Now they were all together and attempting to retell their journeys to the hotel. He and Thalia sat on the bed, all the pillows thrown together to support them. Nearby, Jason and Hazel were seated on the large chairs that were probably big enough to comfortably fit Tyson. Nico was on the other side of the room, his back to the wall, only speaking when needed. Percy had tried to get him to hop on the bed with them, but he just sputtered some low reply and shook his head. Weird. Jason covered his face afterwards. Even weirder.

Anyway, there they were, all finally together and ready to kick this quest’s ass. Now all they had to do was figure out who exactly they were supposed to run into in the hotel and then mosey on out. Piece of cake, right?

“Wrong,” Thalia said, fluffing up a pair of pillows before leaning against them. “I snooped around a bit, and apparently this place is a pretty popular hangout for deities. Especially minor ones. We could be looking for any of them.”

“Like hiding a needle in a haystack,” Hazel muttered, biting her thumbnail. “So do we just split up and search the place?”

Thalia shook her head. “I think they’ll come to us. We _can_ look around anyway, to make sure it isn’t some kind of trap like”—she glanced at Nico—“you know.”

“We can do a quick look around now,” Jason said, standing up to stretch. Percy did not notice the way his shirt slid up, revealing Jason’s stomach. Percy was in desperate need of help.

They all nodded in response and followed him out the door. Thalia’s bags remained where they were originally put, and he wondered if that meant she was sleeping with them. He wasn’t sure if that would be a relief or not. Either way, they were going to have to talk about it at some point.

He wasn’t too crazy over the idea of all of them walking so closely together, but Thalia assured them that as long as they were in the hotel they would be fine. No monster would attack when there was such a large godly presence around. At least, no monster that actually valued its life. Still, he kept his hand firmly attached to his pen. Sword. Pen sword. Just in case anything tried to eat them or something.

Nothing did. Every person they passed was bright and cheery, and Percy thought he recognized a few of them from his trips to Olympus. One of them, a guy who looked barely older than he did, glanced between him and Jason and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Percy considered uncapping Riptide but decided that fighting a god over something like this would not end well. Thalia snickered to his left.

“You shouldn’t pull things out the moment you’re in the mood, Jackson,” she said, biting back a smile. “That’ll get you in trouble.”

“I hate you so much,” Percy groaned, hoping that no one else caught the double meaning. Jason was watching them with a concerned expression, and if the innuendo didn’t bother Percy then _that_ certainly did. “Anything else you need to get off your chest?”

Thalia actually seemed to consider it. “Yeah. Let’s do that later though.”

Percy didn’t think she would go along with it. But there were a few things he knew Thalia probably would want to talk to him about, and most of those things ended with her strangling him for messing with her best friend and sibling. So, that was a conversation Percy had no problem with postponing. Then again, every time he had delayed something it blew up in his face.

In any case, there were more important metaphorical fish to fry at the moment. He had to set his personal matters aside and focus on the quest before them. Even if right now they were walking around blind for said quest, but that was just one of the expected downsides to the whole demigod business. It was like 20% kicking monster booty and 80% having no clue what was going on. The math there was completely accurate. Probably.

They managed to explore four floors and a laundry room until they ran into someone who looked official. She could have been Susan’s twin, except she was more blue than green. She also appeared somewhat less friendly, although Percy didn’t mind that so much. He wasn’t a big fan of Susan’s “cheerfulness.” He almost gagged just at the thought of it, but doing that when someone who most likely worked at the hotel was in front of them was possibly a bad idea.

“Is there a reason you’re loitering around here?” the nymph asked, frowning at each of them in turn. Her gaze softened a fraction when it landed on Hazel, and Percy tucked that observation away. It might come in handy later.

“We’re looking for a guest,” Jason replied. “It’s for a quest. We’re not exactly sure who it—“

“Ugh,” she cut him off, rolling her eyes. “ _Half-bloods._ You and your stupid quests. Do you have any idea how much damage this facility has gotten over the years because of you people questing? How many lawsuits I have dealt with? Do you?”

“No,” Percy shrugged. “I have a feeling we’re about to find out either way.”

“Too many!” the nymph continued, ignoring him. “We had to completely rebuild floors twelve and up just a few years back. Do you have any idea how expensive that is? No, I will not have you fighting hydras or giants or _whatever_ it is that you do here.”

The group all exchanged looks. The fact that she wasn’t attacking them was a vast improvement compared to what they were used to. But they couldn’t afford to get kicked out. Well, they would just sneak back in if they were, but they would _prefer_ not to get kicked out. As weird as this place was, actually having soft beds to sleep in was a luxury they didn’t want to waste.

“We’re not going to fight anyone,” Hazel offered. She left out the _if we can help it._ The nymph seemed to actually be listening to her, though, so Hazel continued, “We just need to find a god and then we’ll be out of your way.”

“I suppose if that’s all,” she muttered, tapping her chin. “Fine. Just don’t disturb the other guests. If you need anything, ask for Susie. I’m the manager here.”

“Are you related to Susan?” Percy asked.

She answered with a dirty look. Percy did not like this family at all. Before he could be rude back, though, she turned on her heel and marched away. Possibly to scare young children or do whatever it is that strict adults do. They silently watched her go, and only let out a sigh of relief once she was out of their sights. All things considered, that went pretty well.

“I think she has a crush,” Thalia smirked, nudging Hazel’s side. The daughter of Pluto blushed fiercely, and Percy had to force the smile off his face. He was incredibly fond of Hazel; she was kind of like the little sister he never had, so the urge to tease her like any brother would was incredibly high right now. Well, almost any brother. Nico was pointedly looking away from them, frowning. Percy may need to talk to him later. It looked like this quest was going to be full of conversations.

“Why don’t we try some of the common areas,” Hazel suggested, steering the conversation away from Susie. “It might be easier to find them where people hang out than wandering around here.”

So they made their way back to the lobby. Percy immediately caught Susan’s eye, and she flipped her hair and fluttered her eyelashes in Jason’s direction. Percy practically pushed the blonde outside towards the pool area to get him away from her. The other three casted them looks of confusion, but he gave an excuse of wanting to hurry. He ignored Jason’s raised eyebrow. He did not fight Kronos to deal with this.

The pool was, predictably, full. He could tell right away that a few of the people lounging around were definitely of the godly nature, but some of the kids splashing in the shallow water were mortals. It was an odd mix, seeing the mythical and normal interact with each other. Percy sometimes divided the two in his mind, but it was sights like this that reminded him that the two worlds were connected.

Hazel pressed against him. “Do any of them look like who you saw in the dream?”

Right. That. He summarized the vision he saw to the others, but Hazel was the only one who knew the full details. He probably would have told Jason it too if they weren’t ignoring each other when it happened. But in all honesty, the dream gave him the creeps. Like, major creeps. Serial killer level creeps. He didn’t think they were in any actual danger, but he had a feeling that something was going to go wrong while they were here. He just had no idea if it was because of the god they were supposed to meet or something else.

“No,” he replied, “but I didn’t really get a good look at them, remember?”

“What’s going on?” Nico asked. Percy was definitely more used to the guy’s sudden appearances than most people, but he still jumped slightly.

“Nothing,” Hazel brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. It sprung back into place immediately and she scowled. “We’re just trying to figure out where our little friend could be.”

He didn’t look completely pleased with the answer, but he gave a small shrug of his shoulders and continued on. Jason went after him. That was another thing Percy noticed—Jason following Nico around a lot. Not that he was complaining or anything. Nico definitely needed more friends. Or friends in general. Whatever.  But Percy had spent enough time around Jason the last few weeks to get a good idea when something was bothering him, and something was definitely up right now. And although his curiosity poked at him, Percy knew when to step off.

Hazel hummed next to him. “They seem close. I’m kind of surprised, but it’s nice.”

Percy watched as Jason whispered something to Nico, causing the younger teen to quickly walk away. Interesting. “It is. It feels like just yesterday when he was feeding cheeseburgers to ghosts.”

She paused. “He still feeds cheeseburgers to ghosts sometimes.”

“Details, details. The point is, this is nice. Not the whole risking our lives part. But I kind of like these big group quests. More people to scream with when things go horribly wrong.”

“You so just jinxed us,” she said sternly, but she couldn’t hide the smile that appeared on her face. “When everything blows up in our faces I now know who to blame.”

“I thought we decided to blame everything on Hera.”

“I’m afraid scapegoat status has transferred from her to you, Percy.”

Thalia appeared behind them, wrapping her arms around both their shoulders. “What are we blaming Seaweed Brain for now?”

“What haven’t I been blamed for?”

“The fall of Troy,” she replied without missing a beat. “Anyway, I’m starving. Why don’t we have a break?”

They honestly hadn’t done enough work to warrant a break, but Percy still agreed anyway. He was strangely exhausted by the day’s events even though they really hadn’t done much. It probably had to do with all the Jason stuff. He had to stop thinking about that or else nothing was going to get accomplished. Hero or not, he was still a teenager boy, okay.

They all gathered around a small hut selling refreshments. It was relatively empty except for the worker behind the counter and an attractive woman a few seats down. Jason continuously peeked over at her, which Percy thought was sketchy, but he kept his mouth shut. If Sparky wanted to ogle at ladies then he was free to do so now.

Even though he thought that, he didn’t expect Jason to actually get up and walk over to her. Which was what he did. Everyone stopped eating to watch, their expressions showing confusion. The two of them spoke softly, but they definitely did not seem to be in agreement over something. The woman was clearly amused, even laughing a few times. But Jason looked annoyed. Like, extremely annoyed. And that was when it hit Percy. Her appearance was one that he had not seen before, but it was definitely Aphrodite that Jason was arguing with. If he looked more closely, he could see her appearance shimmering slightly.

“I’m going to go see what’s up,” he said, sliding off his stool to join Jason. He was relieved when no one offered to follow, but it was only a matter of time before their curiosity got the better of them. When he reached the two it became apparent that they really were fighting.

“For the last time,” the goddess said with an exaggerated eye roll that she probably spent a millennia perfecting, “I have nothing to do with this silly quest.”

“I find that really hard to believe,” Jason growled. “There is no way you being here is a coincidence.”

She sniffed. “This is a pretty popular spot to hang out at, you know. And I’m not one to miss a chance to socialize, unlike _you_ people _.”_

Percy cleared his throat. They both looked at him, surprised at his sudden appearance. Jason quickly glanced at the others, as if making sure they were still as far away from the current conversation as possible. When neither of them said anything, Percy took that as his cue to speak. “What are you doing here?”

“Like I was saying to your little boyfriend here,” Aphrodite took a quick sip of her drink, ignoring the way both of them grimaced. “I’m here for pleasure. I actually have better things to do than follow your misadventures all day.”

“You can stop following them any time,” Percy snapped back. He was only around her for under a minute and he was already mad. Deities do that to a person. “Really. We won’t be disappointed.”

“Nonsense,” she laughed. “Who else is going to give you tips? Jackson, your technique is sloppy.”

Oh my gods. “Oh my gods.”

“This isn’t funny,” Jason rubbed at his face. He looked tired. “If you’re here just to play around, that’s fine, but if you’re actually involved can you please tell us? Before we meet Sue or Suzette or whoever next.”

Aphrodite frowned. “I know that we’ve been chatting more often, but do not forget your place. Making Percy fall in love with you is nothing compared to what I could have done otherwise. Just open a history book and find out.”

“Actually,” Percy said, “it’ll more likely be in a literature book than history. Most people don’t really… never mind.” He shut up when he saw the look on her face. Gods were so sensitive. This was exactly why he didn’t want to become immortal.

Before any of them could have another chance to be rude at each other, the sound of approaching footsteps made them turn around. Thalia was behind them, arms folded across her chest. Considering she was already in the know of what was going on, it wasn’t that bad that she came by. But Percy was still uncomfortable with her overhearing this conversation. It was one thing to explain to someone the situation, but it was something else entirely for them to witness it firsthand.

“Aphrodite,” Thalia said coldly. The Hunters were not exactly fond of Aphrodite and her children, and the current fiasco most likely did not help that dislike. “What a surprise.”

“Is it just me or did it get a little chilly?” Aphrodite giggled. That only made Thalia scowl even more.

Percy could cut the tension in the air with Riptide. “She says that she isn’t involved with the quest.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Jason muttered.

“I agree,” Thalia replied.

“I did not come here to be insulted by Zeus’ spawn,” she huffed, indignant. “If that’s all, I have a massage therapy appointment at four. Goodbye.”

“Wait,” Percy called out, much louder than he intended. Nico and Hazel started at the sound, and were now walking towards them. Perfect. “Do you know anything at all that might help us?”

She paused and looked to actually consider the question. Percy knew, despite all the trouble she caused for him, that the goddess _did_ like him. She usually sided with him whenever the gods were voting on whether to smite him or not, so that had to mean something. And she did have a point—she could have done much worse to them than putting some dumb love spell on them.

No. When she brought it up just now, didn’t she phrase it strangely? She said she made him fall for Jason, but she didn’t mention the other way around. That was… He’d think about that later. There were other things to take care of at the moment.

“I’ll see you later,” she said with a wink. They, even the employee who was pretending not to eavesdrop, all averted their eyes as she vanished.

Nico and Hazel were both expectantly looking at the group, clearly waiting for some sort of explanation of what was going on. Luckily, Thalia filled them in. Percy was having trouble coming up with some excuse as to why they were so insistent that Aphrodite had to be involved. Thalia was at least able to catch them both up without sounding like she was hiding something. Which only annoyed Percy slightly. He was supposed to be a pro at bullshitting, but right now he felt like he was in the minor leagues. And now he was making baseball metaphors. What happened to his life?

* * *

Just like Percy had thought, Thalia’s appearance changed the sleeping arrangements. She was staying with Hazel in the other room while Nico joined his. For some reason, the son of Hades was _extremely_ unhappy with this arrangement, but Thalia refused to sleep with guys because of her whole misandry thing so this seemed like the most logical outcome.

Logical, but not the easiest. Percy sat on the bed while Jason and Nico awkwardly stood on opposite ends of the room. There was obviously something he was missing about all this, but he had a feeling that he should probably not be the one to approach it first. So instead he just watched them fidget while he flipped through the TV stations.

They were silent for a while until Jason finally spoke. “I’ll take the couch.”

Okay, so. Percy may have been a tiny bit disappointed at those words. Only a tad. But Nico looked like he was ready to have a seizure, and that is not an expression Percy is used to seeing on the kid’s face. “Why don’t I have the couch instead? You two can get the bed.”

Nico relaxed somewhat. And now Percy was kind of insulted. Why didn’t Nico want to sleep with him? “I’m guessing that’s fine?”

Jason nodded, but his lips were pulled into a thin line. “I actually think we could all probably fit on the bed if we wanted. It’s pretty huge.”

Percy gave the bed another look over. Yeah, it could easily and comfortably fit all three of them. He did not fail to notice how jittery Nico got when it came to being in extreme close quarters with him though. Jason was the same as well, but Percy at least knew why he might be nervous. The teen peered over at the bathroom; he was going to finish that bath one way or another. It didn’t even have anything to do with Jason at that point, he just really enjoyed bubble baths and it was a crime to cut one short.

“I’m good with whatever,” Percy shrugged. He went through all the channels like three times already, and he finally chose some nature documentary. Even learning was better than the awkward atmosphere that was happening in the room.

Suddenly there was a dip in the bed, and Percy saw Jason crawling onto the mattress. His features were hesitant, like he wasn’t exactly sure whether or not this was okay. Percy almost rolled his eyes at the very thought; they were well beyond the point of not entering each other’s personal space. He moved over to give the blond some room.

“I think I’m going to look around more,” Nico said before promptly marching out the door. Percy stared blankly as it shut after him, wondering what the Hades was his hurry. Weird. What was even weirder was the fact that Jason actually looked guilty after he left.

“Is something bothering Nico?” he asked, just as a hippo and crocodile started battling on screen. He winced slightly at the images before turning his attention to Jason. “He’s been acting funny all night.”

Jason shook his head. “He just has some things on his mind. Don’t worry about it. But, hey, since we’re alone—”

“You could at least take me out to dinner first, Grace.”

“—what do you think about Aphrodite?”

The question was accompanied by a pillow thrown at Percy’s face, which was to be expected. Percy knew exactly what he thought about the goddess though, and most of it could not be said out loud or else he’d probably be made to fall in love with a wallaby or something. He was completely convinced she was somehow involved in all of this. She probably wasn’t teaming up with whoever was stealing everything, but Percy had a feeling that she really was the person who might lead them in the right direction.

“I dunno,” he answered. “She said that she’ll see us later though, so I’m kind of expecting her to be hanging off the ceiling any second now.”

They both looked up. Luckily the ceiling remained clear of any lurking ladies. For now.

“Actually,” Percy continued, “there was something else she said that was kind of weird. She said that she made me fall in love with you. But it was the both of us, not just me, right?”

Jason froze. Like, he legitimately stopped moving for a good amount of time. Honestly, Percy didn’t think much of what she had said. It could have just been a slip of the tongue, but it stuck with him enough that he figured he might as well ask about it. Jason’s reaction was very suspicious though. If Percy had a goatee, he would be stroking it while wondering why the blond was acting like he got caught with his hand in the ambrosia jar.

“She was talking directly to me when she said it,” Jason finally managed to say. His eyes were focused on the television, but he was obviously not actually paying attention to the program.

That was a good point, and Percy would almost believe it if Jason hadn’t reacted so strangely at first. And Percy wasn’t dumb. He was just surrounded by a lot of people who were freakishly intelligent, so in comparison he would occasionally look like an idiot. But no, Percy was definitely a smart guy and he could sense when someone was lying to him.

Without thinking about his actions, he scooted closer to the other demigod so that they were aligned from their shoulders to their hips. It was probably a risky move, especially since Nico could technically walk in at any moment, but he refused to be not told things. Again. It happened a lot. And they weren’t actually doing anything that would land them in trouble. Friends were totally allowed to sit next to each other. These things happened.

“Jason,” he said. “Even without all this weird stuff, we’re friends, right? So if something else is going on, feel free to tell me. I’ve heard I’m great at giving advice.”

The blond raised an eyebrow. “Heard from who?”

“Frank,” he paused. “Blackjack.”

“Idiot.”

“How did that wise old saying go? Oh, right. Takes one to know one.”

Jason laughed, loud and rich, and the sound echoed around the room. Percy wasn’t really used to him laughing that much; Jason was more of a smirk while quietly chuckling guy. Except for that time he snorted milk out of his nose on the Argo II when Leo did his Elvis impersonation. Good times.

“I thought the older you were the more mature you became,” Jason said, and that stupid smirk made an appearance.

“Uh. I’m about twenty times more mature than you.”

And he laughed again, except this time it was a less pleasant one and more mocking. “Only less mature people say stuff like that.”

“Bullshit,” Percy huffed. Even though Jason technically had a point there, but he would never admit to it because he was being _mature_. He knew that the easiest way to end their arguments would be for him to repeatedly smack him over the head with his sword. It was how they usually solved their fights when their girlfriends weren’t around.

He frowned at the thought. Girlfriend, now, since Jason and Piper were no longer together. And with how things were going lately, he couldn’t be sure if he and Annabeth were fated to go down that same path as well. Groaning, Percy fell over and let his back hit the mattress. He needed to contact Annabeth again to see how she was doing. She was probably annoyed with herself for wasting valuable research time, and the very thought of her angrily pouring through material in an effort to make up for lost time made Percy smile. Thinking about her also made him acutely aware of how close he was to Jason, though, so he shuffled over a few inches.

Jason glanced down at him after the loss of contact, as if he couldn’t comprehend why Percy would move. He opened his mouth to say something, but whether it was another joke or something serious, Percy didn’t get to find out. The door swung open and Nico walked in again, much earlier than Percy expected. The boy froze when he noticed what position the two were in and for a moment it looked like he was going to walk right back out.

“Hey,” Jason called out, sliding off the bed. “I was wondering where you went.”

“I forgot to tell Hazel something,” Nico responded, shrugging before sitting down on one of the large chairs. He still looked uncomfortable, but sleepiness was smoothing out the edges of his appearance. He was probably ready to pass out at any moment. It reminded Percy of when he had first met Nico, which was the last time he had actually acted his age. That was kind of a depressing thought.

But there were important matters that needed immediate attention to focus on. “Nico, who’s more mature, me or Grace?”

Nico brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin on top of them, his eyes flitting from Percy to Jason. “I don’t know. Jason has a lot of accomplishments under his belt.”

Percy gaped at him. “I defeated Kronos!”

“Technically, Luke did.”

“I survived Tartarus.”

“So did I.”

From the corner of his eye Percy could see Jason trying very hard not to laugh. Did Percy’s entire life lead to this moment? All of those near death experiences and trials accumulated to right here, where he was being viciously taunted by his so-called friends? Was this the fate of demigods? The world was a terrible place.

“Let’s be nice,” Jason finally managed to say. “Percy has a lot of skills. Like that whole horse thing. Where would we be without it?”

Percy glared at both of them. “If you think I’m above hitting below the belt, you are wrong.”

“Oh, we know,” said a voice that definitely did not belong to either Jason or Nico. All three of them turned, their weapons out, but it was only Aphrodite. He lowered his sword.

Wait. Aphrodite. Nico was here. Oh shit. He raised his sword again.

Nico was definitely confused, staring at the goddess like he couldn’t quite believe what he was saying. That was probably the case. As far as Nico knew, there was no reason for her to pay them a private visit in the middle of the night.

Aphrodite waved at him, smiling brightly, and Percy just knew that she did this on purpose. She was probably still offended by how they spoke to her earlier in the day so she waited until they had company to see them. There was probably a lesson in this somewhere, but Percy was too busy panicking to properly ponder possible morals.

“I hope I’m not interrupting quality bonding time,” she said while inspecting one of the seats. After coming to the conclusion that it was good enough for her, she sat down. “But I’m on a tight schedule right now. I had to squeeze this visit in before I head back to Olympus for the meeting.”

“Meeting?” Jason asked, putting his sword away. “What kind of meeting?”

The goddess looked apologetic, like she wasn’t supposed to let that out. “That’s not important. How are my boys doing?”

“We’re not your boys,” Percy crossed his arms over his chest. He was already tired of the conversation and it barely started.

“Can you believe this?” she turned to Nico, gesturing at the other two exasperatedly. “After all I’ve done for them, and this is how they treat me? You would think they’d be in a better mood after all of the—“

“Aren’t you in a rush?” Jason hurriedly interrupted. He made a show of peeking at the digital clock on the bedside table. “We wouldn’t want you to be late.”

Nico furrowed his eyebrows, and his expression was the very definition of someone who was suspicious. He didn’t say anything though, and instead just silently watched the fiasco as it unfolded before him. Percy really wished he had mind reading powers at that moment. It would make a whole lot of things easier.

Aphrodite simply smiled, like she was enjoying this. She probably was. “How silly of me to forget. Percy, do you remember visiting the Sea of Monsters?”

“I’m ADHD, not an Alzheimer’s patient,” Percy muttered. “Yeah. Wait, don’t tell me we have to go there?”

“No, no. Think a little more… sunny!”

He blinked. “Miami? That’s the east coast though.”

“Maybe we were taking ‘west’ too literally?” Nico offered. “The prophecy might have meant western civilization in general instead of the western United States. Is that what it—“ he looked over at Aphrodite, but she had vanished.

What was the point of that? Percy gave the room a once over, making sure that she wasn’t hiding behind the drapes. He didn’t understand why she couldn’t give them that information at the snack bar. It would have saved them all a lot of time and frustration, especially if she was supposedly in some kind of hurry. He just did not understand the Olympians.

But Nico’s gaze was now focused on them, and Percy instantly knew what it was all about. She probably wanted to spice things up, make the situation even more convoluted than it already was. They weren’t even sitting next to each other anymore, but Percy felt like he was way too close to Jason at that moment. 

Something else bothered him. That was way too easy, especially considering the dream he had. He knew that a lot more was supposed to happen while they were in Vegas. Something that made his skin crawl. But if they already have their next destination, then there was no point in staying here any longer.  They would be out by tomorrow to continue onto Miami. So what was going on here?

Jason spoke before anyone else could. “Should we go tell the girls now?”

“They were getting ready for bed when I left,” Nico answered, still looking at them as if he was piecing together a puzzle. “They might be asleep already.”

“Tomorrow then,” Jason nodded before yawning. “I think I’m going to bed too.”

He wandered away to the bathroom, leaving Percy and Nico by themselves. It was just a little uncomfortable, which was probably why Jason escaped. Nico was still staring at him as if he would unlock all of his secrets at any moment. He wondered how suspicious it would be if he suddenly ran after Jason into the bathroom.

“Is something going on between you guys and Aphrodite?” Nico finally asked, getting up from his seat. “It sounded like you’ve been dealing with her a lot lately.”

“We just keep running into each other,” Percy shrugged. “We had a quest involving her a few months ago.”

“Hm.”

This was not a conversation he wanted to have with Nico, so Percy excused himself and went to the bathroom on the pretense of brushing his teeth. The door was slightly ajar, so he just knocked on it once to let Jason know he was coming in before entering. Jason stood at the sink, a toothbrush hanging from his mouth, and Percy almost laughed at the image. Jason spat some paste out into the sink, and gods, Percy was above jokes like that. He was so above making fun of the blond spitting out white stuff. He wasn’t a middle schooler.

 “I see you’re not a swallowing type of guy.” Dammit.

Jason frowned, but then his eyes widened when he understood the joke. He splashed water at Percy’s direction. There were numerous reasons why that was a dumb idea. Percy could write a book on why trying to use water against him was absurd. In fact, it could be his autobiography. He should definitely write one of those at some point. Or at least try to. He could plan out his possible book later though. He concentrated on the faucet until the stream of water sprayed out at Jason, soaking him thoroughly. Percy barked out a laugh in triumph, congratulating himself on winning this battle. 

Jason eyed his wet clothes and shrugged. He pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it to the ground nonchalantly. Percy gaped at him, his mouth opening and closing like some sort of sexually frustrated fish. Jason went back to brushing his teeth.

Percy, not wanting to lose the upper hand, grabbed his own toothbrush and squeezed some toothpaste onto the bristles. He considered what he was about to do for a second, comparing the pros to the cons, before deciding he just did not care. He let out a moan around his brush, hoping it was enough to bother the Roman.

Jason’s cheeks flushed, and he looked incredulously at Percy’s reflection. Percy just shrugged, as if he always made obscene noises while taking care of his dental hygiene. Once Jason returned his gaze back to his own face in the mirror, Percy did it again. He was louder this time, and he hoped that the sound of the water running was loud enough to drown it out from outside the room. 

“Do you have to do that?” Jason hissed, setting his brush on top of the counter. He was fully facing Percy now, his features a mix of annoyed and—something else. Amused? Ridiculously turned on? Gassy? It was difficult to tell.

“I’m really into battling cavities,” Percy answered with a grin.

 And then Percy’s back was suddenly hitting a wall, and Jason’s arms were caging him in. The blond crowded into his space, his breath smelling like fresh peppermint. Percy wanted to congratulate himself for managing to rile Jason up like this by just brushing his teeth, but he was having trouble forming a coherent train of thought. 

Jason’s lips ghosted along Percy’s jaw until they were right beside his ear. He gently bit the lobe, causing Percy to involuntarily shudder. Finally, Jason whispered, “You’re drooling toothpaste, Jackson.”

He pulled away, smiling innocently, and Percy sputtered. The son of Jupiter merrily went back to brushing his teeth and Percy wasn’t sure if he hated him more or the goddess. A cough behind them interrupted the internal debate, though, and both boys hastily turned around to face a very pale looking Nico. Jason dropped his toothbrush, and it clattered to the ground. He did not move to pick it up.

“I was—I,” Nico started. He took a deep breath. And then another. After what felt like an eternity, he walked out.

Jason went instantly after him, calling out his name and telling him to wait. Percy stood where he was, listening as their footsteps faded outside of the door. He was definitely missing something here. While Nico would obviously be shocked at what he saw, his reaction was a little… extreme. Then again, didn’t he have a crush on Annabeth? So he was probably angry that her boyfriend would be messing around with another person. Once again, Percy realized he was winning the award of worst boyfriend to have ever existed in every single universe. He was going to have to talk to her soon. And also Thalia. And now, urgently, Nico.

Percy walked out of the bathroom only to find the place empty. He could go after them in the hallways, but he doubted that he would catch up to them. And whatever Nico’s problem was, Jason appeared to know about it, so it might be best to let him handle it instead. Whatever it was.

Still, he wasn’t very good at just sitting around and waiting. He paced the room. He sat down and watched more of that nature documentary that was, apparently, still airing. He paced again. He actually finished brushing his teeth. After what felt like an eternity, the front door finally opened. He turned towards the door, ready to ask a million questions and find out what exactly was going on here.

He could barely get a syllable out when something slammed into his stomach, sending him flying into a wall. His head knocked against the wall, hard, and his vision blurred until all he could see were spots and white light. It looked like his dream might come true after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [donnatroys](http://donnatroys.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Feel free to send me questions, prompts, or puppy eyes because I'm taking too long to update. SMOOCHES.


	8. I Make a Deal with a Goddess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Hazel do a lot of walking and he loses something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahaha remember when Heroes of Olympus ended before I updated this fic??? Remember how that happened????? I apologize for the ridiculously long wait time between chapters. I'm not going to offer any excuses, but I do promise there won't be such a horrible gap between this and the next one. Speaking of Blood of Olympus, I just want to remind everyone that this fic is obviously not following what happened in that book as I planned it all out before it was released. So please don't point at stuff and go, "But that's wrong because BoO said this happened!" I know. Let's just all shrug our shoulders and go along with it.
> 
> I know last chapter I promised that more stuff was going to be happening in this, but I ended up changing stuff around so this one also ended up as mostly horrible horrible filler. SORRY AGAIN. But next chapter for sure is going to be... fun. You'll see.

On the list of things Percy was not proud of, most of the items consisted of him getting his butt kicked. As someone who was supposed to be this legendary demigod who continuously saved the world with nothing but his trusty sword, brave friends, and sarcasm at his disposal, he spent a ridiculous amount of time getting sent flying across the room.

Or, in this case, knocked out.

It was embarrassing to admit that something—or someone—had blindsided him so completely that they not only managed to hit him square in the face, but also send him tumbling down to the floor when he blacked out. It was even more embarrassing when a familiar curly head was right in front of him when he finally opened his eyes again. For a split second, Percy thought that Hazel was the one who hit him. Maybe she found out what happened and was punishing him for traumatizing her brother. And Percy could regain some of his lost pride if she was the one who did it—Hazel could be quite terrifying when she wanted to be.

But she appeared to be just as confused as he was. The girl scooted back a little when Percy awoke, probably to give him some space. “What happened?”

“I have no luck is what happened,” he replied, rubbing his face. It hurt to touch. He wondered what he looked like. “Something hit me.”

“I can see that,” Hazel said, which confirmed that he did not look attractive. “You either got into a wrestling match with the doorknob or someone here really does not like you. How many fingers am I holding up?”

He swatted her hand out of his face. “Two. You didn’t see who did this?”

“No,” Hazel shook her head. “I just heard a loud thud coming from in here—I guess that was you hitting the ground. Anyway, I came by to check and the door was wide open. And there you were.”

Now Percy was annoyed. How dare someone hit him and then not stay to gloat about it? Didn’t they understand Villainy 101? Bad guys aren’t supposed to be sneaky when they confront heroes. They’re supposed to attack, and then monologue about it for ten minutes, which then gives the hero a chance for a comeback. Whoever did this must have been an amateur.

Still, what was the point in that? It couldn’t have been someone who wished him any real harm considering he was still alive right now. Did someone go to the wrong room and thought Percy was a thief or something? Maybe once they realized their mistake, they were too embarrassed and ran off. It was such a simple and normal solution that Percy immediately decided it wasn’t right. Nothing was ever that mundane around here.

“Let’s go find the others,” he said. “If someone is attacking us here, we need to warn them.”

Now wasn’t the time to be embarrassed over his convoluted personal life. As much as he did not want to face Nico or Jason right now, their safety and mission came first. Hazel nodded and stood, helping Percy up as well. They locked the door behind them and, after making sure there was definitely no one around to suddenly whack them on the skull, they went down the hall. The other direction leads to a dead end, so he was certain that Nico had come this way. Then again, he also had that corridor of darkness power going for him, so he might have already ditched Jason. Finding them might not be easy as all. And then where was Thalia? She obviously wasn’t in the girls’ room or else Hazel would have said so. Why does everyone always disappear at the worst possible time?

“Wasn’t Thalia with you? Nico said you were going to bed,” Percy asked.

Hazel clicked her tongue, her hair bouncing over her shoulders as she shook her head. “She went out to find a vending machine right before you got hit—oh! She might have seen whoever it was. If they both came this way, they probably passed each other.”

Did she get attacked too then? Percy tried to imagine Thalia getting jumped, but the mental image was so ridiculous he almost laughed. Or what if she was the one who did it? That—okay that was also possible, considering she knew what was going on. Maybe she decided that she could no longer handle Percy constantly making out with her little brother, and that she had to do something about it. Although that didn’t fit either; Thalia was the type of person to tell you in detail why you were wrong and _then_ beat you up.

Honestly, it could have been anyone. They were in a hotel filled with people who knew who they were and demigods were not always popular. Especially demigods who were constantly out doing demigod things. Maybe Susan came by to teach him a lesson? It was totally possible. He suggested this theory to Hazel, who laughed until they turned another corner and walked right into Susan. Or the other one. Percy did not really care considering he disliked them both.

“Oh,” she said, her voice bubbly. Definitely Susan. “You shouldn’t walk so quickly in the halls. That causes accidents.”

Percy couldn’t help but notice that she was looking behind them and that once she saw there was no one else with them she started to pout. Gee, who could she be looking for? She didn’t make it obvious at all.

Hazel was focused on other things. “Did you see anyone else come by from this direction?”

“No one from your group,” the nymph sighed, her eyes filled with longing. “There was some commotion near the elevators though. A fight broke out, but by the time staff got there, the people involved were gone.”

Percy and Hazel shared a look. It was a long shot, but that may have been who they were searching for. They said their thanks and were about to go on their way, but Susan blocked their path. They tried to step around her and she just intercepted them again. Weird. This was either one of those comedic situations where you awkwardly try walking by someone but you keep mirroring each other’s movements, or she was purposely stopping them from leaving. And with how this entire quest had been going so far, Percy was pretty certain he knew which option it was.

“Where’s your friend?” she asked, smiling slyly. “The cute one.”

Before, Percy would have been really annoyed by this comment. He didn’t want to admit it, but he did get jealous when they first met the nymph. But so much had happened since then that he knew that her crush wasn’t anything to really worry about. Yet… He wasn’t sure why, but there was something about the way she was smiling at them that sort of unnerved him. He had seen flirty smiles, and ones that are like it, before. This smile was not one of them. It was kind of predatory, actually. As if Jason was a tasty snack instead of a possible boyfriend to her. And that was never a good sign.

Hazel appeared to pick up on this as well. She shrugged, her eyes darting down the hall then back to Susan. “We’re looking for him right now. So if you don’t mind, we’re just going to…”

She took a step to the left. Susan followed. It was at this point that Percy realized that the nymph couldn’t copy both of their movements at once. He stepped to the right, and she automatically matched him. But that meant Hazel was free, and she dashed passed her. Susan gasped, turning around so that her back was now to Percy. Which was a mistake, because it meant that Percy easily snuck by the nymph. The two demigods ran down the hall, Susan’s affronted yells following them. Once they reached the elevator they slowed down.

“What was her problem?” Hazel wheezed, trying to catch her breath. “She really didn’t want us to go.”

Percy leaned against a wall. “Don’t you think she was a little too stuck on Jason? I understand having a crush, but that was kind of…”

“Weird,” she agreed. “And it looks like whatever happened over here is over now.”

Percy glanced around. There was no one in sight except for an old couple entering their room a few doors down. And neither of them really appeared to be the fighting type, as they looked like they were ready to shrivel up and die at any moment.

They decided to check out the vending machines downstairs for Thalia first. That was another thing that seemed strange; she had been gone for an awfully long time for what was supposed to be a quick visit to get some soda. Maybe she got distracted; the hotel was fancy enough that you could easily find something to do no matter what time it was. But Percy somehow doubted that a Hunter would be as easily swayed as the rest of them. When they reached the vending machines Thalia was, unsurprisingly, nowhere to be seen.

“Maybe she met up with the other two?” Hazel suggested, although it didn’t sound like she believed her words.

If Percy was just a normal teenager who was on vacation with his friends, he wouldn’t find any of this strange. People get separated all the time. But he wasn’t a normal teenager and this wasn’t a vacation; something about this whole mess screamed suspicious at him. There were practically neon signs pointing at this situation, all saying, “This is a trap!” He just had no idea how it was one.

They wandered around until they reached the main lobby. If it were any other city but Vegas, the demigod would wonder why it was still busy so late at night. Guests bustled about, mortals unknowingly holding doors open for gods and the like. It was pretty surreal, honestly. Percy was so used to seeing normal humans be completely oblivious to the mythological so seeing them interact with each other gave him a headache. Okay, yeah, they had no idea they were making small talk with nymphs. But the point still stood.

When the lobby gave them nothing, they went back towards the pool. Aphrodite was long gone, and so were their friends. Percy was beginning to get worried now. He could understand why Jason and Nico might have vanished considering what happened, but Thalia? Maybe she was handling Hunter business… If it wasn’t for Percy’s visitor earlier and Susan’s strange behavior, he probably wouldn’t be overthinking this. His gut told him something was up though. He usually trusted his gut.

They walked. And walked. And walked some more. After about an hour, he was pretty sure he traveled the building more than even the people who worked there. They were even able to give directions to some lost tourists. Not knowing what else to do, the pair returned to their rooms in case the others head returned without them noticing. Unsurprisingly, both rooms were empty. Percy flopped face first onto Hazel’s bed, the sheets muffling out a frustrated groan. Hazel sat next to them, looking equally as annoyed. Tired, too. They were supposed to be asleep by now.

“Just walking around isn’t doing anything,” Hazel said, rubbing her feet. “We need another plan.”

But what? They had absolutely nothing to go on. Unless you count a slightly stalkerish nymph as a clue. Wait. Actually, that might be something. Susan had been super weird, and even if she had nothing to do with the disappearances of their friends, Percy had a feeling she’d be some kind of help. Now all they had to do was… walk around until they find her. Great. Good plan.

“Let’s find Jason’s groupie,” he suggested anyway. Someone who worked there might know how to find her.

She nodded and they began round two of their hotel tour. Luckily, they found a worker pretty quickly, even though it wasn’t who they were looking for. It was a male satyr—Hazel said faun at first, but then she laughed at the thought of a faun holding a steady job—who did not seem happy to be there. He kept blowing his low bangs out of his face the whole time while looking bored. Why did he just not get a haircut if having hair in his eyes bothered him?

“Like,” he said in a clearly fake Californian accent, “I tried the whole finding demigods line of work. But, like, that meant having to deal with kids. And I don’t do kids, man. I’m not a babysitter. They don’t pay you enough to babysit you brats.”

Percy’s eye twitched. “Okay. We did not ask you about any of that, but okay. Thanks for the information. So, about Susan?”

“She’s _so_ hot.”

“Do you know where she is?” Hazel asked. The expression on her face made Percy know that she was enjoying this conversation far less than he was. “We’re kind of in a hurry.”

“She’s with Atë, dude.”

Percy felt like he should recognize that name. It was probably going to be someone super important who will give them a hard time because that’s what ends up happening on all of his quests; he runs into an unfamiliar name, they get angry because he does not know their name, enter boss battle.

“Who’s Atë?” Hazel glanced at Percy. “That sounds like a Greek name. One of yours.”                

“She could be Egyptian for all I know,” he replied then winced. Right, best not to tread there.

The satyr didn’t seem to care. “She owns this place, man. They should be in her office on the first floor, she’s even hotter than—“

They started walking. Percy doubted they were going to get any other useful information out of him besides who else was hot. That was literally the last thing he needed right now.

It was surprisingly easy to find the office. Her name was elegantly scripted on a plate on a wooden door. Muffled voices could be heard on the other side, but it was definitely more than just two people in there. Sadly, none of them sounded like their friends. Percy and Hazel both pressed their ears against the door.

“What do you mean they saw it?” a rather shrill and unfamiliar voice rang out. “You had to have special access to get into that area!”

“They, uh, ignored the ‘keep out’ sign?”

“Who dares ignore a ‘keep out’ sign?! That’s worse than patricide.”

“I thought gods had no problems with trying to kill their parents.”

The sound of someone getting hit could be heard followed by some rushed apologies. Normally he would have found that hilarious, but Percy thought he had a good idea of whoever it was that dared ignored that apparently sacred sign.

“No matter,” the first voice continued. “I’ll just have to get creative. Change in plans, ladies.”

“What kind of change?”

The door suddenly yanked open, causing Hazel and Percy to spill forward. They landed in a heap on the floor and the first thing Percy noticed were heels. Heels connected to legs. He looked up. A woman with dark skin wearing a black business suit stood in front of them. Her head was completely shaved, and large rimmed glasses sat on her nose. She was gorgeous, but something about her seemed… off. Like just being around her made Percy feel terrible. He wanted to get as far away from her as he possibly could.

“Guests,” she said, clapping her hands together. “Come in, come in, I’ve been expecting you. Eavesdropping is rude, but it’s better than trespassing, I suppose. Why aren’t you inside yet?”

They hurried to their feet, but it had less to do with her words and more because they were easy targets like that. It was also embarrassing. Next was the hard part: Do they actually go in there? There was a 97% chance that things would end up horribly if they did, but a 100% chance said that they wouldn’t find their friends if they didn’t. So he and Hazel stepped through the door and watched with grim faces as it automatically shut behind them. That was always a good sign.

“So you’re Poseidon’s and Hades’ messes?” she said, frowning at them.

“Pluto, actually. I’m Roman.”

“Hm, I don’t care.”

Percy got a good look at the room. It was basically your typical office with a desk and motivational posters hanging on the walls. Except on closer inspection, the posters weren’t very… well, motivational. Phrases such as ‘If at first you don’t succeed, never try again’ and ‘The harder you work, the more tired you get’ happily greeted him. The two nymphs, Susan and whoever the heck the other one is, stood uncomfortably next to the desk. Percy couldn’t help but notice that the other one seemed to have perked up when she spotted Hazel though. It was kind of cute.

The woman sat down behind the desk. She did a quick scan of some of the papers sitting in front of her before returning her attention to the two demigods. The unease still never left Percy; in fact, it settled even more deeply in his stomach. That was never a good sign.

“I have personally never been a fan of allowing demigods onto my property,” she began, her hands folded neatly on top of the table. “You always cause disturbances all over the place. Did you know that we had to rebuild an entire—“

“We’ve been informed,” Percy poked at a chair and sat down. If they were about to die then he might as well get comfortable beforehand. “You were saying something about someone ignoring a ‘keep out’ sign?”

The Susan twins looked horrified. But the lady just smiled, albeit tightly, and leaned in slightly. “Yes. Some of your friends apparently can’t read. But that issue is getting taken care of, so onto other matters—“

“Hold on,” Hazel raised a hand. “Exactly what do you mean by that?”

“They’re not dead,” she rolled her eyes as if that was a ridiculous concern to have. “As I was saying, I have an interest in this quest of yours. I have also had something taken from me and I need it back. I can help you get to Miami, but we’ll have to do it quickly before the other gods notice my involvement. They get so agitated if we meddle, you know. But they tend to forget about me anyway, so I figure we can get away with it.”

“Um,” Hazel raised her hand again. It reminded Percy of school. “You’re Atë, right? What do you get out of this? I mean… Whatever you lost, yeah. But gods usually aren’t this helpful even when it involves them.”

Atë tilted her head slightly as she regarded those words. “True. But I prefer to not say. What do you Americans say—I have the right to remain silent? I do have a deal for you.” She looked right at Percy. “I’ll solve your little problem.”

He coughed. “What was that?”

“I am the goddess of misfortune. I am guilt and ruin and all those other fun things. And also… infatuation. You know all about being obsessed with someone, Perseus, do you not? If you would like, I could make all of this so much easier for you. Say the word and it'll go poof.”

His face burned. Hazel was frowning at them both, clearly confused as to what was going on. Although now he knew why this lady made him feel so weird; she was literally the person in charge of almost all the emotions he had been experiencing since this whole mess began so long ago. It was no wonder that he wanted to leave.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with this,” he mumbled. This was not a conversation he wanted to have in front of Hazel.

“Maybe,” Atë shrugged. “I’m sure it would be this all a whole lot easier if all that just went away though. Please keep what I said in mind.”

She nodded at Susan who rushed out of the room. “She’s about to fetch your companions. I told you they weren’t dead.”

Hazel was still staring at them, and Percy could practically hear the gears turning in her head. Percy had shared some of his unease with her during the trip here, but he definitely did not give her anything close to the big picture. He wondered if she would be able to piece everything together from the little information she had. Hazel was a smart girl.

Time for a topic change then. “What is a goddess doing with a hotel?”

Atë smiled wildly. “I spread obsession and evil deeds all around! Where else would I go but Vegas?”

At that moment, the door opened. Thalia, Jason, and Nico all shuffled into the office and… Well, they certainly weren’t dead. They looked like hell though. Thalia’s hair was sticking up in all directions and her clothing was even more ripped than usual. Jason’s lip was bloody and that was actually an attractive look on him, to be honest, so it was best not to look at him too long. Nico didn’t appear to be injured, but his entire appearance screamed misery. There was a permanent scowl on his face and he was standing as far from Jason as he possibly could manage.

When they noticed Percy and Hazel inside, they relaxed slightly. Apparently Susan hadn’t told them they were in here already. She probably completely forgot about them as she too thought the bloody lip was attractive. She kept fluttering her eyelashes at the blond.

“Now,” Atë said, staring hard at the three newly arrived demigods, “can you read? Do you not know what ‘keep out’ means? I know you’re dyslexic but that’s utterly ridiculous. I could have you arrested!”

Thalia looked murderous. “What the hell was down there? We almost got killed, you little bi—“

“And you wouldn’t have had to deal with that if you didn’t ignore my signs.”

Well, she had a point there. Percy was very curious as to why they went sneaking into mysteriously sealed off places. Actually, no. That didn’t surprise him. It was how they all managed to get there in the first place that did. Hazel and he basically tore the hotel apart in their search for their friends, but not once did they see this infamous sign. Where did they go?

“What’s going on here?” Jason asked. He hadn’t looked at Percy once since he came in, which stung, but given the current circumstances it was understandable. “Are you going to try to destroy us?”

“She said she’s going to take us to Miami,” Hazel explained. “I have no idea why she wants to take us to Miami though.”

“Aphrodite said we need to go there.”

“When did she tell you that?”

Definitely not a conversation that Percy wanted to have in front of everyone. He cleared his throat. “So, what should we do? Should we trust this complete stranger and let her take us across the country into what may possibly be a trap?”

Atë sniffed. “I can hear you.”

“Why is she helping us?” Nico asked. “She’s not really the friendliest god out there.”

“Besides ears, I also have feelings.”

Percy shrugged. “She said she got robbed and wants us to get her stuff back.”

None of them looked convinced. But there were a lot of miles between Nevada and Florida, and a shortcut sounded pretty great. A shortcut provided by the goddess of misfortune was the exact opposite of great. Maybe they could hitchhike again.

“Here’s the deal,” she said a little too loudly, her voice once again shrilly. “I will take you where you need to go. All you have to do is get my gown back and talk to Hermes—“

“Wait,” Hazel interrupted. “You never said anything about Hermes.”

“He is the god of thieves! What makes you think he isn’t involved somehow in all of this?”

“That’s just so… obvious though,” Thalia said. “It can’t be that obvious.”

They all murmured their agreement. The goddess was not listening though. “I’ll give you until tomorrow to make your decision. You may all go to bed now. I expect to see your disgusting faces in the morning.”

The two nymphs all but shoved the demigods out of the office and slammed the door in their faces. They stared in shock before turning around to return to their rooms. Tonight had been aggravating, and all Percy wanted to do was sleep. But he knew they were going to have to stay awake even longer to discuss what happened. They all went into the boys’ room. Percy noticed that both Jason and Nico kept glancing at each other. He definitely needed to talk to them, but they had other issues to take care of first. Like the one that might possibly end with them getting killed if they made the wrong choice.

“Why is she helping us?” Jason asked, wiping the blood off his face with a wet paper towel. “Gods don’t normally help us this obviously on quests. Something’s up.”

“Yeah,” Hazel nodded, staring at Percy. “That whole conversation was weird.”

Thankfully, she didn’t dive into specifics. Hazel was a saint.

“I think we should do it,” Nico said from his corner. He didn’t elaborate until everyone turned to gape at him. “Even if we decide to walk to Florida we’re still going to land in trouble.”

He had a point there. They really had no way of knowing which would be the more difficult route, and if he were to be honest, Percy wasn’t really a plan kind of guy. That was Annabeth’s thing. And she wasn’t with them, so maybe that meant they should throw caution to the wind and take the deal that was offered. Even if it turned out to be a mistake, it wouldn’t be the first time they ended up regretting a choice they made on the quest. Hell, 90% of quests were made up of bad ideas. Why cater to that 10% now?

“Fine,” Thalia said. “Okay. This is probably a really dumb idea, but let’s do it.”

Percy and Hazel asked the other three what they were doing. Apparently when Thalia was on the way to the vending machine, someone ran into her. They ended up getting into an argument and she ended up chasing after the guy. She lost him though, and that was when she found Jason and Nico. She paused during her explanation at this point, shooting them both a worried glance. Not good. She continued to explain that they somehow ended up in a closed off area that was hidden from the rest of the hotel and that was when things got weird.

“They were these spider things,” she said. “Gods, could you imagine if Annabeth was with us? They were so creepy! We managed to kill a few, but there were too many so we just got out of there. That’s when we ran into hotel staff and they brought us to the office.”

That wasn’t suspicious at all. Percy wanted to check that place out, but there was another part of her story that interested him. Hazel appeared to be just as curious. “So it was a guy who ran into you?”

“Mmhm,” she said. “Had on a hoodie so I didn’t get a good look at his face. He was in a hurry though. I think he came from the direction of where our rooms are.”

“Do you think it’s the person who attacked you?” Hazel asked Percy.

“Pretty sure it was. I can’t think of anyone else unless we want to interrogate grandma and grandpa down the hall.”

They quickly explained Percy’s late night visitor, and Thalia and Jason only snickered a little at him. Bless them. After all of it, Percy just ended up even more confused by the whole situation. There were too many things happening at once and he had no clue how they all connected to one another. If they stayed here longer they might find out, but…

“Let’s talk more in the morning,” Hazel said, yawning. She stood up from her spot on the bed. “I’m about to pass out.”

They all nodded in agreement, and the girls wished them a good night before shuffling off to their room. It wasn’t until the door closed behind them that Percy realized he was now stuck in a room with Jason and Nico. He could feel the awkward tension building. But when he turned to look at them, he saw that they were both already sliding into bed together. That… He wasn’t expecting that.

When he started making his way to them, Jason held up a hand. “Uh, Jackson. Do you mind taking the couch tonight?”

That was less unexpected, but Percy couldn’t stop the startled expression from appearing on his face. What did the two of them talk about before Thalia found them? Nico was pointedly staring at a wall, biting his lower lip, and Jason just looked apologetic. But right. Okay. If they wanted him on the couch then he can do the couch. He flopped down on the one that appeared to be the most comfortable and stretched out on it. He was used to sleeping on the ground outside during quests, so this was still like a luxury.

He had only been asleep for what felt like two and a half seconds when hands shook him awake. He blinked his bleary eyes opened and was greeted to Jason. The Roman pressed a finger to his own lips and then pointed towards the outdoor balcony. The two of them tiptoed outside, closing the door as softly as they could to not wake Nico up. Not that they had to worry too much about that though. It was almost impossible to get that kid out of bed once he started to snore.

It was warm outside, but Percy still found himself shivering. He was tired and confused and all he wanted to do was crawl back to that couch. This was a conversation that needed to happen though.

“I can’t tell you what I spoke to Nico about,” Jason started. “So don’t even bother asking.”

Apparently this was a conversation that did not need to happen.

He continued before Percy could open his mouth. “I’ve been thinking though. Dude, we need to just… stop. We’re screwing everything up here. First with Piper and now Nico, I—I don’t think I can do this anymore. I can’t do it anymore.”

It felt as if his heart just bungee jumped out of his chest. This was good, he knew. They were being ridiculous. Just because they couldn’t control their feelings didn’t mean they had to stick their tongues down each other’s throats every five seconds. His hands were clammy though. Why was his throat suddenly so dry? What kind of son of Poseidon got dry throats? He wiped his palms on his jeans.

“Right,” he mumbled. “No offense, Grace, but you were a terrible kisser anyway.”

“ _You’re_ a terrible kisser.”

Percy frowned. “I’m surprised you weren’t struck down by lightning at such a horrible lie.”

“Wouldn’t have hurt me anyway.”

They both grinned. Percy kind of wanted to kiss him, but now he couldn’t. No, that wasn’t right. He never could. Everything that they were doing was a mistake. They were doing exactly what Aphrodite wanted them to, and if there was one thing Percy hated, it was being a pawn of the gods. He remembered what Atë had said earlier.

"Should I try talking to Nico though?" Percy asked, peering over to where the younger teen was sleeping. "I feel bad."

Jason shook his head. "No. Trust me, I took care of it. Just... give him some space fo a little while. Cool?"

"Cool."

There was a pause. "Are we cool?"

"I'm pretty cool, but I'm not sure about you."

Jason shoved him, holding back his laughter. They could do this. They could totally just be friends without the whole benefits thing. And then they can finish this quest and hopefully, _hopefully,_ everything will return to normal. Okay, that was probably a longshot, but a guy can have dreams. They silently went back inside after. From his spot on the couch, Percy had a perfect view of Jason’s sleeping form. He could see the rise and fall of his chest as the other teen breathed. Watching someone sleep was probably on the top of creepy extracurricular activities, so he faced the other way.

* * *

 

The next morning, they all found themselves back in Atë’s office. She was in a different suit this time, one with pinstripes, and she really was pretty. She smiled at them all, but it reminded Percy of the one that Susan wore earlier. Predatory. He was beginning to reconsider their decision.

“A trip for five to South Florida then,” she said, writing in a notebook. “You won’t regret this.”

“I’m pretty sure we will,” Thalia snorted. “But we’re still going to go for it.”

The goddess chuckled. “Right. So, the item that was stolen from me is a gown. You will know it when you see it, believe me. I’m not sure exactly where Hermes is in that city, but you’re bound to find him if you look hard enough.”

“Isn’t Miami huge?” Jason asked.

She ignored him. Instead, she looked straight at Percy, her smile widening even more. Hazel kept glancing between the two, her eyebrows knitted together in worry. Everyone else just looked confused as she held out her hand. “So, Percy. Do we have a deal then?”

He stared at it. He could feel Jason standing behind him, shuffling his feet. Hazel almost looked as if she was ready to intercept them and shake the goddess’ hand instead. Percy was going to have to get her a ‘best friend in the entire universe’ t-shirt at this point.

With a casual shrug, he shook the offered hand.

And then suddenly he wasn’t shaking it. There was no Atë, and no hotel, and his feet were wet. He looked down to find that he was now standing in the ocean near the beach. The other four were standing around him wearing bewildered expressions on their faces. He expected them to be bought to an ambush or something, but only mortals were around them. It was highly anticlimactic. But then he looked at Jason and his heartbeat didn’t increase. He looked at Jason and all he could think was, _Oh, this is my bro._ He looked at Jason and it was gone, that desperate urge to press his lips against the other boy's was gone.

It was all gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at [sofiamantegas](http://sofiamantegas.tumblr.com) on tumblr if you want to strangle me for how this chapter ended!


	9. Another Hole Appears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They find one really cute animal and also some less cute animals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys, once again i apologize for the wait. i am going to flat out say that the earliest the next chapter is probably gonna be out is maybe april because i signed up for two fic exchanges, and since those have very strict schedules they have the priority. but there's only two chapters to go for this!! what a long.... long journey.
> 
> anyway, this chapter is not some of my best writing and i apologize for that as well. but enjoy, if you can!

They had only been in Miami for about ten minutes and Jason already wanted to go home.

It was his first time there. Percy had been previously but he didn’t really get to explore because of something about centaurs and cruise ships. It took them only three tries to figure out where exactly they were; the first couple they asked accused them of underage drinking because why  _else_  would they not know? And the second person only spoke Turkish. Eventually, though, they discovered they were at the famous South Beach which made that couple’s reaction make a lot more sense.

All he really knew about the area was that every time there was a TV show or film centered on Miami, it was located there. And from what he could see, it did look like it did on television. There were people running on the (kind of crowded) beach and businesses lined against the sidewalks. Tourists were taking selfies under the shade of palm trees and it was just as lively as he’d have thought.  Despite all of this, the fact that they were just magically teleported here by a sketchy goddess sort of ruined the whole experience for the guy. Also, the fact that he was currently being chased by what appeared to be a large dog didn’t make it any easier either.

“Are you sure it isn’t a monster?” he called out, leaping to the side as it bit at his heels.

“I think it’s just a dog,” Hazel yelled back, gripping her blade uncertainly as she watched the spectacle unfold.

All around them were tourists that pointed excitedly and snapped pictures as if this was some sort of comedy act. He couldn’t even be too mad at them considering his friends were basically doing the same exact thing—nothing. Thalia and Percy had wandered off earlier to buy ice cream somewhere, leaving him alone with the Underworld siblings. Not that he needed their help to deal with this or anything. But still.

“Maybe you should tell it to sit,” Nico suggested, rather unhelpfully in Jason’s opinion, while watching with a bemused expression. He didn’t even bother to take his weapon out. Jason suspected that he was still a little mad about their conversation the previous night.  He couldn’t blame him for that. It was an overall terrible situation for everyone involved and Jason felt like a bad friend to—well, a lot of people.  He really did not want to get Nico involved with the whole mess though. He was hoping that everything would just solve itself neatly before anyone else had to know what was going on.

Yeah, that was never going to happen. But a guy can dream.

He then tripped over someone’s badly placed sandcastle and went tumbling down onto the ground. The good news was that he landed on sand. The bad news was that the dog was now on top of him and very rudely sniffing at certain places. Jason attempted to shove the animal off but to no avail. 

“It weighs a ton,” he whined as the dog began to lick his face. “Help me.”

Hazel was laughing now, her weapon sheathed and forgotten. Nico was trying to fight a smile, but Jason could see his lips curling up. It was actually kind of nice, ignoring the fact that he could no longer feel his legs. Everyone had been so tense since arriving in the city that being able to laugh over something silly was a nice respite.

“It doesn’t seem to have a collar,” Hazel said, kneeling down to pet the dog. It—she, now that Jason got a good look at her—seemed to be some sort of mix. He had no idea of what though; apparently being raised by wolves did not make you a canine expert.

“Her,” Jason corrected. “Should we name her?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “She seems to like you. Medea?”

“Over my dead body.”

They argued over names for the next few minutes, each one getting more and more ridiculous until Hazel silenced them and named the dog Buttercup. The four of them then walked off the beach, Jason limping slightly, and sat at a bench close to the sidewalk. They waited there for the other two to arrive, petting Buttercup intermittently.  It wasn’t until Nico wandered off to find a bathroom that Hazel turned towards Jason. Her eyes were both concerned and curious, and Jason didn’t need to be an oracle to know what was going to come next.

“What is it?” he asked, scratching Buttercup behind her left ear. That seemed to be her favorite spot.

“I’m not going to try to force you to tell me anything,” she began, her words starting off slow as she tried to figure out what to say. “But you and Percy have been kind of… off since this quest began. You two were ignoring each other at first, and I guess you got over that, but—“

She cut herself off. “I’m not even sure if I should say anything about this. When we were alone with Atë, though, she said some really weird things to him…”

Jason froze. “What kind of things?”

“Like I said, I’m not sure if I should say anything since I kind of think he should be the one opening up to us. But it kind of seemed like she was offering some kind of deal to him? In exchange of coming here for her, I think. So since we came, he probably accepted whatever terms she had.”

“There is no way that won’t end horribly for everyone involved.”

He meant it as a joke but it came out more harshly than he had intended. He was annoyed that Hazel didn’t bring this up sooner. While he knew there was no way Percy was going to mention anything, Hazel could have let them know that this whole thing was sketchier than it appeared. His frustration must have shown on his face because Hazel frowned at him.

“Don’t give me any attitude, Jason. Because I’m pretty sure that you know more about what’s going on than I do.”

“And what’s going on?” another voice asked, and they both turned to see Nico approaching them. Hazel shrugged and went back to stroking Buttercup’s fur, and Jason could have pointed out that they could continue the conversation in front of Nico; he had a somewhat decent understanding of the situation after the disastrous events of last night. Two figures were approaching them though, and Jason was pretty sure they were Percy and Thalia finally returning. 

“Can we talk later?” he asked, looking between the two. “I rather not have this conversation out in the open like this.”

It took Hazel a second, but she nodded. Nico suddenly became interested with the hem of his shit—just because he knew the story didn’t mean that he was happy about the turn of events. They all sat in silence until the other two finally reached them, both smiling brightly and laughing from some joke. Thalia almost dropped her ice cream cone when she spotted Buttercup and she began cooing at the dog.

“Kind of sad I missed that,” Percy muttered after they told the story of how the dog chased Jason around the beach. Jason scowled at the comment, but his insides were doing that weird fluttery thing that tends to happen when your crush pays attention to you. 

They chatted for a little while, and Jason was relieved that the earlier tension had vanished. He was going to have to tell Hazel about it though; there was no way he was going to get out of that one. And once again he felt guilty for keeping it a secret in the first place. Yeah, maybe Hazel could have spoken up before they sold their lives away to a possibly evil goddess, but if Jason had been honest from the beginning then—what? He wondered what would have happened if they had said no. You don’t just say no when the gods tell you to do something.

Well, you could, but that usually ended with lifelong grudges and death. Those weren’t very nice.

After deciding that they stalled enough, the search for Hermes began. Considering they had no idea where to even begin to look, it felt more like sightseeing than a search party. Even though Percy had been there before, it wasn’t in this specific area. And even if it were, he spent more time running for his life than actually exploring so he probably wouldn’t have been any help anyway.  Buttercup walked with them, and Jason realized that they were probably going to get in trouble since she lacked both a collar and a leash. He hoped the police here would be willing to let them slide if they explained they were looking for the owner. Maybe. He didn’t know how strict leash laws were in the area. Luckily, Buttercup didn’t seem to want to run around anymore and was content to just follow them around.

Jason was about to suggest that they split up when Percy suddenly stopped walking. Everyone else halted a couple of steps after him, wondering if he stepped on something gross again. But he just pointed at what appeared to be some sort of mail van that sat across the street. Jason still had no idea what he was supposed to be looking at until he remembered what else Hermes is the god of.  They crossed the street once it was clear and, lo and behold, there was Hermes. He was digging through the back of his truck, muttering to himself about express deliveries and late payments. He didn’t appear to be in a very good mood and their presence there would most likely make it worse. Especially since none of them actually believed that Hermes was involved in this; they had discussed the possibility when they arrived. They were only doing this to please Atë and maybe get a clue as to where to go next.

Hermes let out a long sigh the moment he spotted them. Off to a smooth start already then. “Yes?”

Thalia took one for the team and spoke first. “Okay, look, there is no easy way to say this, but… Do you have any idea who’s stealing everything?”

A beat passed. “You are aware that I was robbed as well, right?”

“I’m not accusi—“

“No,” he interrupted. “You are. You wouldn’t be here otherwise. But I can assure you that I am not involved at all, and this is a good time to turn around and leave.”

The demigods shifted uncomfortably. Jason was going to just flat out say who sent them there, but Hazel unfortunately spoke first. “Maybe one of your kids…?”

Jason couldn’t blame her for saying it. It didn’t even hit him that she said something wrong until he saw Percy’s sudden intake of breath and Thalia stiffening. But Hermes’ expression went from mildly annoyed to downright murderous, and Jason realized they have treaded on unsafe territory. Hazel appeared to catch her mistake at the same time as he did, but it was a little too late for that.

“My children,” Hermes growled, “have nothing to do with this as well. Now, the only reason you’re still standing right now is because I owe Jackson over there. I advise you to walk away before I change my mind.”

Jason opened his mouth to—he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Apologize? Argue? But before any words could come out, Thalia was shoving him down the walkway. The rest of them followed along, casting tentative glances over their shoulders. Hermes had turned his back to them and was already back to shifting through the boxes in the back of his truck.  Once they were far enough, Thalia abruptly stopped walking and spun around to face Hazel and Jason was suddenly aware of just how angry his sister looked. 

“I can’t believe you could be that stupid!”

Hazel gaped at the other girl. While they weren’t really that close from what Jason could tell, he never saw them fight before. And judging by Hazel’s reaction, it seemed like it wasn’t a thing that often happened.

“I didn’t think—“ Hazel started to say but was cut off by Thalia’s laugh.

“Well, obviously.”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Nico stepped in front of his sister, his eyes narrowing. “It’s not like she was there when all of that happened. How was she supposed to know how Hermes was going to react?”

“Maybe if she just thought—“

“It doesn’t matter,” Percy said suddenly. “I’m pretty sure Hermes has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. Thalia, relax. The whole Luke thing has nothing to do with these guys, so it’s not fair to get mad at them for it.”

Even though he was trying to smooth things over, Jason didn’t exactly like Percy’s tone.  It sort of made it sound like they didn’t do anything in the war against Kronos, which was completely untrue. Even more, it sort of enforced that whole Greeks versus Roman thing. Or he might be overthinking it. He was probably just being oversensitive when it came to Percy, and oh gods, being any type of sensitive with Percy was not a thing he wanted.  What he said worked though, and Thalia apologized. The atmosphere was still a little tense after that, and it didn’t really help that they had no idea what to do now. Their only lead wasn’t really a lead in the first place, and they weren’t sure where to go next after this. They should probably attempt to contact Atë, but admittedly none of them wanted to speak to her considering the circumstances. They were, basically, stuck.

“Why don’t we get lunch?” Percy suggested.

* * *

 

They found an outside table at some Italian restaurant. Nico grumbled a little at how it wasn’t going to be  _real_ Italian food, and Jason had to hide his smile from the younger teen.  He thought back to the encounter from last night. Jason had basically told him the same story he gave to Piper—the truth, albeit slightly edited. He explained their run-in with Aphrodite, the curse, and how they were trying to figure out a way to break it. Nico was skeptical at first, but before they could really discuss it any further Thalia had literally run into them. And even though she also knew about the situation, he highly doubted that Nico wanted to continue the conversation with her around. They didn’t get to talk about it again after that. They immediately fell into another mess, and he thought back to those spiders inside the basement. He thought he knew how Annabeth felt then, surrounded by those hideous creatures. And it wasn’t that they were too strong or anything, there was just too many. They were forced to retreat. He really hoped that Atë wouldn’t get too upset about the few dead spiders though. 

So, he needed to talk to Hazel, Nico, and Percy sometime today. He should probably deal with Hazel after he found out what was going on with Percy though, which should hopefully solve some of their troubles.  He casted a quick glance over at Percy. It wasn’t until Hazel had mentioned how they were ignoring each other at the beginning of the quest that he noticed that Percy had been… well, ignoring him now.  The only thing he really said to him since they left Vegas was when he said he wished he saw Buttercup chase him. And even then, he didn’t really say that  _to_ Jason, but at the group in general. But whenever the two were stood next to each other, Percy would scramble away. It was just really, really suspicious. 

Then again, Jason did say that they had to stop the whole making out business. So maybe Percy is just granting him some space after that? If he thought about it that way, the other boy’s distance suddenly made a lot more sense. Hazel’s words kept echoing in his head though, and he knew that the only way he could be completely sure of what was their situation right now was by directly asking him.  Before he could look away, Percy caught his gaze. The two boys stared at each other until Jason forced his eyes down to the menu. He was worried that if he looked at Percy for any longer he would start comparing his eyes to the Atlantic, and that was one bridge he was not willing to cross.  Maybe he and Piper should switch parents or something because right now he felt more related to Venus than Jupiter.

They were all ready to give their orders when the server came. Instead of asking what they wanted to eat, though, he gave Buttercup a pointed look. “I’m sorry, but we don’t allow that here.”

See, if he had just pointed out nicely that they did not allow pets then Jason would have let it slide. That was understandable, after all. But there was something in his tone that didn’t sit right with him. Or with any of the others, it seemed, because they all immediately stood up and walked off.

“What are we going to do with her?” Hazel asked. “We can’t really take her with us on the quest, it’s too dangerous. But…”

“I don’t want to abandon her,” Nico finished the sentence. “Maybe we can have someone pick her up? I’m sure there’s someone from one of the camps somewhere in the area who can come if we really need it.”

It was the best they could do unless an owner just magically appeared. Jason sort of suspected that she was a stray though. He really didn’t want the dog around if they were suddenly attacked; they probably shouldn’t even be walking around as a full group together anyway, so who knows what pests they were attracting.  He was about to suggest maybe they should split up into two groups when another body collided into him. The other person started to fall and Jason latched onto their arm to keep them steady. He realized that it was a nymph and he almost dropped her. It was an involuntary response, but honestly he was a little tired of nymphs by now. This one looked nothing like Susie or Sue or whatever their names were.

“Sorry,” she squeaked. Her eyes widened when she actually got a look at who she ran into. “Oh my gosh! You’re those demigods! The ones who defeated Gaea.”

This wouldn’t be the first time they had been recognized, but usually the other person would attempt to kill them afterwards. This girl, though, said the words with a sort of reverence in her voice. She… sort of sounded like a fangirl, actually.

“Um, yeah,” Jason replied a little awkwardly. “I should have been looking where I was going. My bad.”

“No, no,” she insisted. “It was completely my fault. Gosh, I can’t believe I’m meeting you. I have a cousin who lives in Camp Half-Blood and she never stops bragging about it. She said that she made out with Percy Jackson, like, twice.”

They all turned to look at Percy whose face was now a bright shade of red. “What? I’ve never made out with a nymph. Uh, there’s nothing wrong with that, obviously. I’m just… sort of taken…”

Jason, Nico, and Thalia all snorted at the same exact time, much to Percy’s horror and Hazel’s confusion. The nymph didn’t seem to notice, though, as she kept going on and on about how grateful she was for everything they had done. It was kind of nice, to be honest. People in this world just sort of expected demigods to do these things and they were rarely sincerely thanked for it. But having a stranger excitedly shake their hands while fumbling through praise? Jason had to try to fight the smile that was spreading on his face. 

“If there’s any way I could repay you guys,” she continued, “just let me know. I’d love to help.”

"There's no need —" Thalia began to say, but was cut off by Nico's, "There is something."

Before any of them could ask what he was talking about, the son of Hades continued. "Would you be able to watch this dog for a little while? It's not really safe for us to have her with us right now."

She hesitated for a moment, and Jason was pretty sure that she just had war flashbacks of every time a dog had used her tree as a fire hydrant. In the end, though, she accepted and walked away with Buttercup. That was one problem down. Still without a real clue of where to go next, they decided to attempt food again. This time they went to some American restaurant and grabbed a booth inside that was tucked away in a corner. It wasn't that crowded inside, which was probably a bad sign for the actual quality of the food, but that made it easier to discuss their potential plans without being overhearing and think they're nuts.

"I think we should track down Hermes again," Nico said. When he saw the looks on everyone's faces he quickly added on, "Not to like, accuse them or anything. But maybe he can tell us more about Atë? I just have a bad feeling about her..."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Jason couldn't help but notice that Percy shifted uncomfortably at the admittance. And then, suddenly, a foot slammed right into his. Jason jumped in his seat, startled, and the other teens all gawked at him in bewilderment. He spilled his drink and some of it landed on his shirt. Terrific.

"You should wash that out," Percy said quickly, standing up. "I need to use the bathroom anyway."

With that, he left. Jason stared at his retreating figure and then saw the looks that the others were throwing at him. That was a very obvious signal that Percy wanted to get him alone. He wondered what the others thought was about to happen, but before he could dwell on that for too long he stood and followed the older guy. He could feel their stares drilling into his back as he hurriedly went after Percy. What happened to being discreet? Why couldn't Percy wait for a better moment for whatever the hell this was? 

If Jason had seen what the bathroom looked like before they decided to eat in that restaurant, he would have turned right around and just gone to McDonald's or something. It wasn't gas station levels of gross, but it had definitely seen better days. The janitor seemed to be in a forever ongoing war with some graffiti artist. One of the toilets was out of order. The lights let off a yellowish light that sort of gave the place a bad horror movie vibe. He looked behind his shoulder just in case some idiot in a mask was ready to jump him the moment he was fully inside.

Percy paced the length of the bathroom, and if this were a cartoon he probably would have run a trench into the ground. It was an amusing image, but Jason knew that the situation wasn’t funny in the slightest. Percy had been acting oddly ever since they left Vegas, and there was something that just didn’t sit right with Jason. He remembered the short conversation he had with Hazel earlier, of how it appeared as if Percy made some sort of deal with Atë. Whatever it was, Percy was hiding something from him.

“What’s going on?” Jason hesitantly asked, unsure if he actually wanted to know the answer to that question. “Jackson, tell me.”

That made the other demigod stop walking. He opened his mouth and then promptly closed it. When he tried speaking again, his words came out more as a question than a statement. “There’s something I need to talk to you about?”

Well, duh. They wouldn’t be standing in this gross bathroom otherwise. Jason elected to keep that to himself though. “Right. So, let’s talk. We can’t stay in here forever.”

“Okay, remember Atë? Stupid question, of course you do. But do you remember what exactly she’s the goddess of?”

“Um,” Jason frowned. “A bunch of bad stuff, right? Delusion, folly—“

“Infatuation.”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Infatuation,” Percy said again. “Like… how I was infatuated with you.”

Past tense. Jason suddenly had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going, and he wasn’t entirely sure if he liked the direction. “Percy.”

“I don’t like you anymore,” he blurted out. “She, I don’t know—canceled out Aphrodite’s curse? And she could probably do the same for you after we find her dress. Isn’t that great?”

“Great,” Jason repeated to himself. There was a crude drawing inked onto the door of one of the bathroom stalls. He stared at it instead of looking at his friend. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I wasn’t exactly sure how to bring it up,” he explained, smiling sheepishly. “And I didn’t want to risk the others overhearing. Hazel was already suspecting something… But then Nico said that thing, and I realized it had to be now or never.”

Percy just looked so, so happy about it, like a weight had been finally lifted from his shoulders. And he would definitely know what that felt like. And Jason should be just as happy about it too; this was what they wanted. It was what they were  _supposed_ to want since all of this began months ago. Instead it kind of felt like what Percy had been carrying had been dumped onto Jason’s back instead.

Heartbreak, he realized. He was heartbroken. He almost laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation, how completely stupid it was that he was upset that Percy suddenly regained his freedom. It was gross, honestly. He was gross. He belonged in this bathroom.

“Jason?” the older teen appeared uncertain now. He probably wasn’t expecting Jason’s lack of reaction. “Did you hear what I said?”

What was he supposed to say?  _Yeah, I heard, and I don’t like it._ Yeah, no. Then again, the whole keeping stuff from each other thing was the reason this just keeps getting worse and worse. So, maybe Jason should be honest. Maybe if he actually explained to Percy just exactly what was going on instead of attempting to take everything to the grave.

“I have something I need to tell you too,” Jason said. His voice came out with a much calmer tone than he expected. Actually, his entire body felt at peace, sort of. Like deciding to tell the truth put him into some sort of practical trance. Or maybe that was just the Roman in him, taking charge of an unwanted situation.

“Yeah?” Percy appeared confused. “What is it?”

“I like you.”

Percy didn’t say anything at first. In fact, he just gave Jason a funny sort of look. “I know. I mean, we both liked each other. That was the whole problem.”

“No,” Jason groaned. He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands, and he couldn’t help but think that confessing to Piper was nowhere near this difficult. “I mean it. I like you.”

“Because of Aphrodite…”

Gods, Jason knew that Percy wasn’t famous for his intellect but this was like pulling teeth. “I need you to listen to me. Aphrodite, she—look. I was never cursed. She only did that to you.”

Percy’s mouth dropped open. “What are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something? Of course she cursed you too, I mean, we—“

“I like you,” Jason repeated, and he could spot the exact moment when realization struck Percy.

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah. So, I guess Atë or Aphrodite or whoever could make this go away, but it’s different? These are my real actual—stuff. It’d be kind of weird if I asked them to take that away.”

“How do you know that though?” Percy asked. “I mean, I was pretty sure I had a real crush until Aphrodite told me otherwise.”

“She said so,” he answered. But… was that really okay? To just take the goddess’ word for it? Maybe his feelings weren’t real either, and she just lied about it to make things more entertaining for herself. He shouldn’t have just immediately accepted that she was telling the truth about that one particular thing. But if he were to start questioning that, then there was also the other side of the argument. Maybe there wasn’t any curse at all, and the two of them had just legitimately liked each other? This was going to give him a headache. 

“I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “But I was like five seconds away from comparing your eyes to the Little Mermaid or something earlier, so it just feels real.”

Percy frowned. “Doesn’t she have blue eyes?”

“Er, maybe? I meant more of the whole ocean thing.”

“Shouldn’t you have compared us as people then instead of our eyes?”

“Fine,” Jason rolled his eyes. “Both of you look like you use forks to brush your hair.”

“No one likes a smart ass, Jason,” Percy retorted.

“You d—“ Jason cut himself off. Because, no, Percy did not like him anymore. That was the whole point of this train wreck of a conversation. Percy appeared to have pick up on what Jason almost just let slip, and he was suddenly a lot more interested in the dirty tile that lined the floor.

How long had they been in here anyway? It felt like far too long, and he couldn’t help but peek over at the door in case someone would come barging inside to see what was going on. These talks never seemed to go uninterrupted anymore. When no one came, he turned his attention back to Percy who was still staring at the ground, which was unsurprising. What  _was_ a shock was the new determined expression on his face.

Before Jason could react in any way, Percy was suddenly in his space, his hands gripping onto Jason’s biceps. “Kiss me, Jason.”

“Wait, what?”

“Just lay one on me,” he persisted, his hold on Jason never loosening. “Right now. Bam!”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Do you want me to kiss you or punch you?”

He wasn’t deterred. “I know you said that we had to stop with the whole… kissing thing, and yeah, but I need to make sure. Please? So just kiss me already.”

Jason licked his lips. He realized this was most likely the last time he was ever going to kiss the other teen, and he had to—what? Make it count? He almost laughed at the absurdity of such a though. At least, whatever happened after this, it would determine where their so-called relationship would go. If Percy’s feelings for him really were removed then there was no longer an issue. Okay, there was still the problem of Jason continuing to like him, but if the risk of Percy shoving his hands down his pants was suddenly removed then Jason was pretty certain he could control this.

He tentatively raised his hand and pressed his fingers against Percy’s cheek. He stroked the skin there so gently that it was more like the ghost of a touch than actual contact. Yet Percy still flinched slightly, a movement so small that if Jason hadn’t been standing so close to him he would have never noticed. He did see it though, and he knew right then how this was going to turn out.  Still, he leaned in and kissed him. It was so, so soft and resembled a good night kiss more than that of a lover’s. After a few seconds passed, he attempted to deepen it by just a fraction. There was no response. He tried again, a little more persistently this time to get some sort of reaction,  _any_ reaction, but Percy never moved to kiss back. But then, right when Jason was about to pull back, Percy opened his mouth. Whether it was to speak or grant Jason access inside, he didn’t get to find out.

A loud, echoing crash sounded throughout the building. Jason and Percy jumped apart immediately, and Jason banged his hip against a sink. He didn’t dwell on the sharp pang of pain that spread through him, and instead rushed out of the bathroom door with Percy right behind him.  So, maybe he didn’t know how that kiss was going to turn out after all.

The restaurant was in shambles, and that was the nice way of putting it. There was a gigantic hole in the east wall facing the beach, and debris was everyone from what Jason could see; a cloud of dust hung over everything, making it difficult to tell exactly what was going on. The frantic screams of tourists filled the air, and Jason really hoped that no one was seriously injured. He couldn’t see the rest of their group anywhere.

“What happened?” Percy coughed, trying to shield his eyes from all the dust.

“Oh, you know,” a voice said from their left. They both turned to see Thalia limping towards them. “Sudden ambush while we were ordering our appetizers. The usual.”

Jason immediately rushed to his sister’s side. Her pants were ripped, and there was blood seeping out of large gash near her knee. It made him wince just looking at it. Everything else seemed fine, although he couldn’t help but notice that she was alone.

“Where’s Nico and Hazel?” he asked, craning his neck to get a better view.

Thalia grimaced. “I don’t know. I lost them as soon as they broke into the building.”

They? And that was when Jason saw them: Spiders. Lots and lots of large, hairy spiders. Very familiar spiders. If he hadn’t been holding his sword he would have smacked his forehead in frustration. Of  _course_ this was going to happen. Why wouldn’t Atë betray them? Their track record with gods wasn’t really the best despite the fact that the demigods save their sorry asses every other week. Was she mad that they let Hermes get away? Or maybe she had planned this from the beginning.

Whatever it was, this restaurant was so not going to pass any health inspections after this.

The three of them all leaped into action. Jason kept casting worried glances over at Thalia, but she wasn’t letting her injury slow her down. Jason knew that had to hurt badly though, and who knows how much blood was spilling out? Plus, there were still mortals hanging around. Some were immobilized due to fallen debris or fright, but Jason caught a few attempting to take selfies with the creatures. Gods, why were people so weird? They were going to have to end this quickly to make sure no one got too seriously hurt or worse. 

That was easier said than done though. Just like the encounter in the basement, the spiders came in what felt like a never ending swarm. Whenever he destroyed one, another two attacked from behind. He wondered how this must have looked from out in the street, and his stomach lurched at the thought that there must have been spiders out there as well. He remembered Buttercup and the nymph they left her with, and he hoped that they got away safely.

“I’m going to evacuate everyone,” Percy suddenly called out. Jason didn’t even get a chance to respond because Percy was already running off to some mortals that were squatting underneath a table. Jason’s heart swelled with affection for an instant, and he forced it back down his throat. He refocused his attention onto the battle at hand.

Everything was going well, and that should have been a sign. Their side having the upper hand really should have tipped him off, but Jason wasn’t really thinking straight. So when two spiders suddenly leaped on top of him, he just focused on getting out of their grasp. He heard Percy yelling out his name, but when there are fangs attempting to press themselves into your neck, it was kind of difficult to pay any attention to someone else. When he finally got one of the creatures off, he spun around to look for the other teenager. "Percy?"

He saw him running towards him. His dark hair was wild, pointing in every direction and Jason couldn't help but think that he seriously needed to get a haircut once they were back home. He couldn't afford to think about that right now, and had to keep his attention on what was going on around him. Like the fact that the ground was crumbling beneath his fe—wait, what? Suddenly, where the asphalt was there was suddenly nothing, just a gaping hole that fell down to the sewer or whatever the hell was down there. Water, probably? They  _were_ right next to the ocean, after all. He floated above the hole, watching as spiders tumbled down it. A few seconds later he suddenly remembered this his friends can't fly, but when he looked back towards them he found that they had run away to a safe distance. That was probably what Percy had been yelling about; the ground was breaking while Jason was fighting.

He lowered himself so he was right above where the drop started. He thought of the entrance to Tartarus, back when they were in Rome, and he once again looked towards Percy. He was watching Jason with an odd expression on his face, one that he couldn't decipher with the amount of distance between them. Jason thought of Annabeth, of  _AnnabethandPercy,_ and he just knew that he couldn't come between something like that. He closed his eyes and visualized Piper, replaying the conversation they had together before he went away on this quest.

_What if it never goes away, Jason? What are we going to do?_

_I don't know, Pipes._

His eyes snapped open when something came into contact with his ankle. A hand came out of the dark abyss, wrapping itself around Jason's leg. He jerked his foot away, trying to get it to let go, but to no avail. Whatever it was, it had a strong grip. He attempted to lift off more into the air, so he could get it away from the gaping hole in the ground and see it. But he couldn't. Whatever had a hold of him was gripping on too tight and he could barely even move. And, before he could even signal for the others to come closer and help him it, it yanked him down into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like always, you can find me on [tumblr](http://donnatroys.tumblr.com/). feel free to shoot me any questions about the fic there.


	10. The Couple Has a Quarrel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason keeps running into familiar faces and he's kind of getting tired of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... first of all I obviously want to apologize for everything. this has been a long.... long...... LONG wait. I was in a slump for a while and have been writing this chapter on and off randomly through the year, which you might be able to tell in case the style seems to change in certain areas? on that note, I want to thank a particular anon I've had on tumblr the last two weeks. your asks are honestly what motivated me to finally finish this. you are the sweetest!!
> 
> also, here's another reminder that this isn't following all of the events that happened in the blood of olympus because I started this before that book was published. anyway, that's all! I hope you enjoy this even a little, especially since this long ass ride is almost over. thanks for sticking with me for so long. :^)

If there was one thing that Jason was not used to, it was falling.

Even if he was hit out of the air by an attacking enemy, he could easily correct his stance again, unless he was knocked out or something. Which happened a lot, when he really thought about it. Huh, weird. But the point was that Jason normally did not feel like he was in any danger when he was in the air. It was his domain, after all, and there were times where he felt more content floating above than when his feet were planted on the ground.

At least, that was how it was supposed to work in theory. He was technically in the air right now, albeit underground, but he definitely would rather be standing somewhere safely. The fact that he was being dragged downwards by something, occasionally being slammed against limestone and other hard substances definitely did not help. He lost his sword somewhere during the fall, and it was times like these where he wished he also had a magical pen sword, or at least insurance. He wondered if they even had demigod insurance or if the turnover rate was too high for it to work out. Not that he was an expert of how insurance companies worked or anything.

His arm banged against something jagged that was sticking out of—he wasn’t even sure what it was sticking out of, but it certainly caused a hot surge of pain to pass through him. He kicked his leg wildly, hoping that whatever was gripping onto it would be dislodged. If anything, its hold just tightened. For a few wild seconds he was convinced that it was another spider, but he was pretty sure that they didn’t have fingers. At least, he hoped there weren’t any spiders with fingers hanging around. He once again thought of Annabeth and was thankful for the thousandth time that she wasn’t around. Gods knows she had been through enough recently.

Another thought crossed his mind: shouldn’t they have hit the bottom by now? Or water? He was pretty sure that Florida was either at sea level or below it, and they had been going down for a fairly decent amount of time. Hell, the fact that he has had time to have like five different internal monologues since he was pulled down into the hole meant that they had been tumbling for a while now.

“Uh,” he called down to his captor. “Where exactly are we going?”

There was no answer. Jason thought that was a little rude; what was with this sudden surge of bad guys who refused to banter? How was he supposed to learn about their evil plots if they ignored him? He tried a different approach. “You’re not a spider, right?”

 _That_ got a reaction, although Jason didn’t know if it was a laugh or some sort of high pitched growl. Either way, he got the feeling that talking may not be the way to get out of this. Thankfully, he did have another trick up his sleeve.

He glanced up towards the sky, or what he assumed was the sky as it was too dark to even see the exit by now. For a few seconds he wondered if this would even work, if they were too far away from his father’s domain to even generate any type of blast. Thankfully, he had nothing to worry about. He summoned the lightning bolt and, to his relief, whatever held onto him immediately let go when it got shocked.

Jason watched as its form tumbled down into the abyss. Now that he was no longer getting dragged down with it, he took a moment to take it all in. His left arm was wet, most likely from blood from when he got hurt earlier during the fall. It hurt to even move it slightly. He glanced around at his surroundings, but all he could really make of it was that it was some sort of tunnel. It really did not make any sense for it to be this deep considering where they currently were. He decided not to think too much about the physics of it all. He already knew that anything related to the mythological world could warp reality, even if he didn’t completely understand it. So, even though logically they should be in water right now, logic didn’t work here.

A loud crash snapped him out of his thoughts. Apparently he was closer to the bottom than he realized—whatever had grabbed him did not have a soft landing. Jason had two options now. He could go back to the surface and then decide what to do from there once he met up with his friends. Or he could find out what was down here. The second option was clearly idiotic. He was injured and weaponless, and it was so dark that he could only see a couple of feet ahead of him, and that was being generous. Even though the thing that hit the ground was probably knocked out, or at least had taken some damage, he had no idea if there was anything else down there.

Maybe he could just have a quick look and, if things seem to be beyond his current capabilities, he’d retreat. Now decided, Jason slowly floated down towards to where he assumed the ground was. When his feet touch the rocky surface he immediately tensed up, unsure of where the other figure landed. He searched for a couple of seconds before giving up; he had no real way of knowing how large this area was unless he walked along the entire expanse of it and he didn’t have the time for that.

There was a dim light off towards his right, so faint that Jason almost didn’t notice it. With this being his only lead, he began to walk in that direction. He considered the consequences of walking towards a light—there was a reason why death and lights at the end of tunnels were so closely associated. In Jason’s experience, there was usually something at the other side that would attempt to kill you.

The light was farther off than he had anticipated, and Jason began to regret his decision. Any time he moved a little too quickly, or if he tripped slightly over a badly placed rock, a new wave of pain swelled from his bleeding arm. He paused long enough to rip a good chunk of his shirt off to wrap around the injured area, but he didn’t think that would work for very long. He needed actual medical attention. Jason kept walking, and he decided that from now on he was going to keep one of those tiny flashlight key chains on him at all times. So many quests would have run more smoothly if he had one of those. Sure, he would probably lose it right before he needed it most, but at least he’d have packed it in the first place so it wouldn’t be his fault he got stuck in near darkness.

The more he walked, the more he wondered what his friends were doing above. He probably should have checked in on them first, although they were more likely in better shape than he was right now. Yeah, they were being attacked by gigantic spiders, but at least they were together. Still, he did not turn around. It was like his legs knew something that he didn’t, and they continued to urge him forward towards that tiny light up ahead.

After what felt like hours, he finally reached a small opening that lead into what appeared to be a dead end. He hesitated outside it for a few seconds, unsure of what might happen once he went in, but he already went this far so there was no point in stopping now.

He almost turned back around.

“Well, if it isn’t the Casanova who broke my daughter’s heart,” Aphrodite said somewhat coldly while examining her nails. “What’s the reason for this visit?”

Jason would like to say that he was surprised to find this particular goddess hundreds of feet below ground. But honestly, at this point it would have been weird if she wasn’t down here. He almost pointed out that if she hadn’t thrown a tantrum just because they accidentally broke some damn mirror, none of this would have ever happened. He would still be dating Piper and, more importantly, neither of them would probably be down this hole right now. That would most likely be a bad idea though.

“I’m not here by choice, but I think I knocked out the guy who brought me down here,” he responded instead. He began to regret not actually checking to make sure Spider-Hands actually was incapacitated before coming over here. He doubted Aphrodite would help him if he suddenly got attacked. “What are you doing?”

“I was captured, of course!” she cried, her cool demeanor disappearing. “The nerve of that lesser goddess to—to—“

She sighed, her shoulders slumping for a second before she straightened herself out again. Jason, against his own wishes, pitied her. Sure, she made his life hell over the last few weeks, but he would be pretty upset if he got stuck in some gloomy hole too. And, despite everything, she _was_ still Piper’s mom. Jason would be pretty upset if his dad got caught like this. He wondered when she got captured; they had just spoken to her yesterday, after all. How long would she have been trapped if he had decided to return to the surface?

“Did Atë do this?” he asked.

“Who else? I thought you were smart.”

Okay, never mind, she could rot down here for all he cared.

Still… wasn’t it strange that Atë captured a major goddess and stuck her underground without any real security? In fact, he wasn’t even exactly sure what was stopping her from leaving. There was no barrier around her, or anything in the immediate area that looked to be some type of trap. Maybe it was some invisible force that only worked on gods or something.

“How do I get you out of here?” Jason glanced around the cavern they were in. It looked just like any other underground cave he had been in, although it carried the smell of the ocean. Jason allowed his mind to wander to Percy before he shook the thought away. “Why can’t you leave?”

Aphrodite shrugged. “You can’t leave either.”

What?

Jason immediately went to the exit and found that, lo and behold, he could not reenter the dark tunnel that lead him down there. It was like there was some sort of invisible wall blocking him from moving any further and the more he struggled against it the more tired he became. He wasn’t sure if that was just the exhaustion from the day seeping in, or if it was the magic of whatever was locking them inside. He turned to face the goddess. “Why didn’t you tell me I’d get stuck in here?”

“You didn’t ask,” she replied. “Honestly? I’m not entirely sure where the cage activates from. Even if I told you it was a trap, you probably would have already been caught in it.”

Jason was about to continue arguing before deciding that it was a pointless battle. He walked back towards her and sat on a large rock. He didn’t like the idea of relaxing in case something attacked, but he wasn’t in a condition to just stand around. He needed a break.

“I’m sorry about Percy,” Aphrodite suddenly said, starting a conversation that would be the exact opposite of a break. “That must have been difficult.”

Jason had to force himself to not roll his eyes. “Don’t act like you care about me and Percy.”

Surprisingly, she stood up from her perch and briskly walked to where Jason sat. She kneeled down in front of him, and Jason’s face flushed from the proximity. He had been so mad at her that he overlooked how gorgeous she was, but with her face so close to his it was hard to ignore right now. He stared at the ground instead.

“Jason Grace, I always care about love,” she murmured. “This hasn’t been the most conventional case, but who really cares about normal these days, anyway?”

Jason opened his mouth to counter that being cursed to have feelings for something is not the good type of abnormal, but Aphrodite was still talking. “I know that you think badly of me for doing this to my daughter. But Jason, I can’t always give my children preference. I had to punish the two of you for what you did, and unfortunately Piper was caught up in it. It breaks my heart, but what else could I have done?”

“Not punish us?”

Aphrodite either didn’t hear the remark or she chose to ignore it. “If I could take it all back, believe me, I would. But you demigods need to learn your place. Especially all of you from this current generation—you’re always talking back to us, rejecting our gifts, and listening to that punk rock. I blame the internet, you know.”

“Demigods don’t really use the internet—“

“Anyway, Jason, as I was saying… I hope we can all look past this.”

He didn’t believe for a second that she was being sincere about her regret. The Olympians had always been… well, petty. He hated to admit it, but even his father was very ridiculous in this regard. What was the point in having all that power if it reduced you to getting upset at every little thing? But he knew that if he fought her on the matter all it would do is make her angry, which might possibly end with him being killed or something.

“Can you confirm something for me?” Jason asked, thinking back to his conversation with Percy before the restaurant they were in was attacked. “These really are my feelings, right? You didn’t lie about that?”

“Of course they’re your real feelings!” she looked taken aback. “I would never—well. I suppose there is a catch, if you’d call it that.”

_“What?”_

She at least had the decency to look embarrassed. “They truly are your actual feelings. You do like him. But I may have… edged things along? Jason, one of the reasons why I trusted you with Piper was because I knew you would never intentionally hurt her. You just gave that sort of vibe. You know, the whole lawful hero on a white horse deal. So I knew that as long as you were still with her, you wouldn’t act on your feelings for Percy. So I may have pushed you along just a little?”

Jason gaped at her. “So you did curse me!”                                                                                                      

“No, of course not,” she paused then shrugged. “Okay, yes, but only a little. You do have a genuine crush on him, most of the times you actually gave into that desire was my meddling. This whole thing would have been very boring to watch otherwise, you know?”

He groaned. On one hand, it did make him feel a little better that he wasn’t actually a cheating scumbag. Well, he was, but it wasn’t his fault. On the other… well, it still didn’t solve his problem, did it? He still wouldn’t feel comfortable going back to Piper like this. Even now, his thoughts continued to veer back to how nice it was to kiss Percy. To how much he still wanted to kiss him, especially since he doubted he will ever be able to again after this.

“I need to get out of here,” he muttered, pulling away from the goddess. He stood and almost toppled over. A wave of dizziness had hit him, and he panicked at how lightheaded he felt. It had to be the blood loss; he was beginning to get so used to the pain that he forgotten the urgency of his injury. The cloth he wrapped around his arm was completely soaked through.

“You should get that looked at,” Aphrodite chided, as if Jason had a minor paper cut.

“Can’t you”—he winced—“heal me?”

“We aren’t really supposed to meddle with your quests,” she had the audacity to claim, despite the fact that all she had done until now was meddle. “But since you asked so nicely…”

And, of course, that was when the spiders showed up.

In hindsight, he really should have seen this coming. He did, sort of—he knew that he was most likely going to end up somewhere dangerous, but he became so wrapped up in his conversation with Aphrodite that he let his guard down. Gods, that was a reoccurring problem here, wasn’t it? He was constantly letting his guard down.

His first instinct was to reach for his weapon… which he did not have. His second was to hiss in pain after attempting to suddenly move his messed up arm. All things considered, he had started other battles a lot more smoothly than this one.

“Aphrodite?” Jason nervously looked back towards the goddess. “Are you still going to do the healing thing?”

And, of-freaking- course, she was gone.

He wasn’t exactly sure what happened. Did she lie about being trapped here with him? That was a possibility, yet something told Jason that wasn’t the case. So, what? Did the barrier that kept them in here lift when the spiders broke in? That would be convenient if it wasn’t for the fact that those spiders were coming through the only exit, making it virtually impossible for him to get through it. Why couldn’t she have taken him with her? Or at least stayed behind to help him fight them off? Or, you know, healed him. She had been planning on doing at least that in the first place, so she could have stayed behind long enough to fulfill that promise.

There really wasn’t any time to lament his misfortune though. He was Jason Grace, and he had been through even tighter situations than this one in the past. Okay, so, he was injured and weaponless. He definitely didn’t have the energy to call forth another bolt of lightning in his condition, and even if he did, he wasn’t sure if it would work this time. So, what did he have? He took in the inventory of the cavern again: Rocks. A lot of rocks. He stooped down and grabbed a decently sized one that fit snugly into his palm.

A spider leapt at him and he dodged to the side, ignoring the pain that shot through him. He easily sidestepped a second monster, although he wasn’t entirely certain if that was his own skill or if the spider itself just had no idea what it was doing. When another one got too close he smashed the rock over its head and quickly bent down to grab another. This definitely was not the best way to fight, but at least it was keeping him alive.

If he actually survived this, it would make for an interesting story. _One time I beat a bunch of spiders to death with tiny rocks._ Actually, on second thought, that made him sound like one of those kids who would spend their afternoons burning ants with a magnifying glass.

He hobbled over to the spot where Aphrodite was originally sitting at, trying to put some space between him and the monsters. The problem was that there was no way he could actually defeat them all like this. Maybe he could temporarily knock some of them out, but there were just too many for it to be effective. He needed to be at his full strength. He needed Aphrodite back.

“Can you please come back and help me?” he shouted, kicking a spider in what he assumed was the butt. “You said you were going to heal me! It isn’t very godly to break a promise!”

That was a lie; gods loved to break promises, _but_ they did not like to be called out for it. Especially called out in front of an audience. He rolled out of the way as a set of fangs almost pierced him in the leg, but they did catch on his pants a bit, causing him to stumble. Just as another one came at him, he shot into the air to get out of the way. Unfortunately, he overshot the distance and slammed right into the wall behind him. For a few seconds he feared he was about to black out, but he managed to hold onto consciousness.

And then something landed on his head and knocked him out.

* * *

Amazingly, Jason was not dead when he woke up.

It was a shock to him, the whole still being alive thing, considering he was getting swamped by ferocious creatures, and one would think that passing out would give them the advantage. And yet, here he was, and he definitely still had a pulse and everything. Even more, the spiders were gone. If he didn’t already know what the Underworld was like he might ask if he were in heaven.

That was when he noticed that he could no longer feel his injured arm. In fact, when he turned to look at it, he almost wished he was unconscious again. It was definitely still bleeding, and he knew that he couldn’t have been out for too long or else he would have probably died from blood loss. So, was it just a few minutes? Seconds? Then where did all the spiders go?

He remembered that something had struck him, and he began to look around for the offending object. His hand brushed against something, and he was surprised to see that it was a metal canteen. Jason shook it, and some liquid sloshed around inside it. Curious, he opened the lid and was greeted by a delicious smell of hot chocolate. It was, without a doubt, nectar.

So, what? Did Aphrodite hit him in the head with it? And also took out all the spiders? Shockingly, no one answered these questions immediately. Still, Jason wasn’t one to reject something that would save his life, so he quickly took a large sip of the healing nectar. For a moment he feared he drank too much, since his insides did a weird little squirmy thing, but that feeling went away. The pain vanished as well as the wound, although Jason still remained looking as if he was the sole survivor of a slasher film.

“Thank you,” he called out, hoping that Aphrodite would hear. He was still angry with the goddess, but she did just sort of save his life. He could put aside a grudge long enough to be polite.

Now that he wasn’t getting mauled, Jason made for the exit. He was careful, though, as he had no way of knowing what actually happened to the creatures. If Aphrodite really did turn up, perhaps they ran away at the sight of the goddess? If so, then there really wasn’t much stopping them from returning now that she was gone. He had to get back to the surface as soon as possible.

The walk back was a lot faster than when he originally arrived, but he also was no longer gravely injured so that probably helped. He figured that he’ll be back on the street in no time when something slammed right into him and knocked him to the ground.

Jason’s immediate thought was that the spiders were back. Then his common sense kicked in, and it told him that spiders don’t typically lick your face affectionately and bark. It was definitely a dog. In fact, it was _the_ dog—Buttercup had somehow found him miles under Miami. He panicked, fearing that she may have fallen down, but she appeared to be completely uninjured. Honestly, she looked way better than before even; her fur was practically glittering and there was now a large pink bow tied around her neck.

He scratched behind Buttercup’s ears. “Nice to see a friendly face. Didn’t we leave you with a nymph though?”

Right on cue, a distraught cry interrupted the quiet atmosphere. The same nymph as before appeared, her eyes puffy from crying. Jason hadn’t noticed before, but she was wearing a pink bow in her hair. Despite the fact that she didn’t want to be stuck babysitting the dog, she seemed to have warmed up to her quickly. It made Jason smile.

“There you are!” the nymph wailed, wrapping her arms around a startled Jason and the dog. “She just ran off and left me all alone. I thought I was going to be stuck down here in this dirty, awful place by myself. Oh, thank the goddesses!”

“What are you doing down here anyway?” Jason managed to loosen the choke hold she had on him. “Actually, _how_ did you get down here?”

“Much easier than you did,” she replied. “Buttercup and I went down after you after you fell in. I didn’t want to, obviously, but she was very insistent on it. And then those—those things showed up! But they all just ran right past us and went straight for you.”

That was interesting, but not too surprising. Monsters would be more interested in a captured goddess and demigod than a dog and tree nymph. No offense to dogs and nymphs.

She continued. “But then there was a bright light, and they all ran off. Buttercup and I hid for a while just to make sure it was safe though. We probably would have found you earlier if we didn’t, but I’m not taking any more risks after today.”

A bright light? He remembered when he was unfortunate enough to witness Hera in her true form and how it basically killed him. He got better. Anyway, so it probably really was Aphrodite who returned to save him and scared all the beasts off. Where did they go? Back to the surface? If so, his friends were still in trouble.

“Come on,” Jason said as he grabbed the nymph’s hand and continued walking. She let out a small squeak of protest, but didn’t actually attempt to let go so he figured she didn’t mind. Buttercup trotted along after them. “How was it up there?”

“Oh, it was a mess,” she explained, and Jason wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but her voice sounded a lot more sultry than it had before. “People were screaming and running around all over the place. Your friends—the other demigods—were fighting. Was that what it was like when you beat Gaea? I kind of imagined you guys to look a little cooler while in battle. Percy Jackson got knocked out by a stop sign.”

Jason had to stifle a laugh at the news; he regretted not getting to witness that. Still, it sounded extremely hectic up there. Anything big enough that it would cause the mortals to actually notice these things and panic was never a good thing.

The further away from the room he met Aphrodite in, the darker it became. He began to worry that he might end up going the wrong way. Or worse, that they might run into whatever it was that brought him down here in the first place. But the nymph kept giving directions, so he assumed she knew where they were going. Finally, she told him that it was okay to start flying upward.

It was an awkward ride up. He had to pick up Buttercup, who was a lot heavier than she looked. And when he told the nymph to hang onto him, she somehow took that as an invite to koala cling to his back. It was a miracle that he didn’t stumble over from all the uncomfortably placed weight that was added onto him, but he managed to take off despite it.

Once they were above sea level, Buttercup leapt out of his arms and sat down on the pavement. It took a lot longer to coax the nymph off of him. She kept giggling and fluttering her eyelashes at him, and once again Jason felt regret, although this time it was directed at the whole hand holding thing.

It wasn’t until she had finally gotten off his back that he was able to get a good look at their surroundings. It was, basically, completely trashed. While there was no sign of the creatures that had attacked, there was definitely evidence of their presence all around. Cars with broken windshields were abandoned on the road, and that poor restaurant was still there, now missing a wall. Jason even spotted a stop sign just lying on the sidewalk, although there was no Percy near it. In fact, there weren’t any actual people around. The whole area was deserted.

“Where is everyone?” he asked, looking through the window of a souvenir shop. “I understand the people running away, but what about my friends?”

“Maybe they died,” she replied, covering her mouth in horror. “How awful. You can cry on my shoulder, if you’d like.”

Jason was beginning to not be a big fan of nymphs. “They’re not dead. It’s a quest, so it’s not that surprising if they had to run somewhere.”

Granted, he actually wasn’t sure if they were dead or not. But after everything they had all been through, it would be kind of embarrassing if this was what took them out, especially considering they were supposedly the most powerful demigods around. He wasn’t lying though; there was a good chance that something came up and they had to go somewhere. It kind of stung that none of them thought to go after him, but he knew that sometimes you just had to take one for the team.

He glanced down at Buttercup. “You wouldn’t happen to remember what they smell like, would you?”

Buttercup sniffed her butt, so he took that as either a no or a very rude insult towards his friends.

“Well, thanks,” Jason said and turned to go look for the rest of his group. He paused once he realized the nymph—whose name he should probably ask for—and the dog were following him. “Um, are you coming with me?”

“Of course,” she replied immediately. “I’m safer with you than by myself!”

He wanted to point that technically, the most dangerous place to be was at his side. Monsters weren’t that likely to attack the two of them if they weren’t hanging around him, but he had a feeling that it would be difficult to convince the girl of this. Resigning himself to the role of babysitter for now, he started walking again. “By the way, what’s your name? I’m Jason.”

“Now he asks!” she cried, scaring Buttercup. “I’ve saved your life and you only just realize you have no idea who I am! I’m Elmily.”

“Elm… ily? Like Emily?”

“No, like Elmily. You’re lucky you’re cute.”

They wandered throughout the area, keeping a look out for any more possible enemies and the other demigods. Eventually they found where the mortals had evacuated to, but Jason didn’t see anyone he recognized in the crowd. He asked Elmily if she had a drachma so he could send an Iris Message, but she began to rave about cheap dates. He didn’t bother to correct her that they weren’t dating.

Every now and then they would spot a group of people gathered together, looking very distraught, but there weren’t too many mortals around. Or monsters, for that matter. He wasn’t too surprised about the former—the area was probably being evacuated after all of the commotion. He couldn’t help but wonder where everything else ran off to though. Did Aphrodite scare away everything that was on the surface too? While that was possible, something told him that wasn’t the case.

They walked west, away from the beach. Even though they were now a few blocks away from where the fight started, there was still a path of destruction before them, albeit small. Every couple of feet Percy would spot a car with a missing door or a bicycle that was unnaturally twisted into some weird shape. The streets were deserted, which meant that this area was also evacuated or everyone was too scared to step outside. Either way, it put him on edge. There was just something eerie about a place that was normally busy being empty.

And then he heard something. It was faint, at first, and he thought he imagined the sound. But then he heard it again, more clearly this time, and it was definitely a sword hitting something. He quickened his pace, causing Elmily to complain loudly as she followed. The noise would suddenly vanish every couple of steps, and Jason feared that he would lose the trail. But then it would start up again, although a little farther away from where he last heard it.

In the distance he spotted a clump of trees grouped together. He thought that was strange in itself; while this was definitely no New York City, it was still mostly buildings as you got further away from the ocean. It was probably some sort of park, he thought. He was about to keep going when there was a sudden loud bang that came from that direction, followed by a scream. Buttercup began to bark at the noise, and he managed to get her to quiet down **.**

“Stay here,” he ordered the nymph. “If I don’t come back in fifteen minutes, leave immediately. Understood?”

Elmily looked like she was ready to protest, but her desire to survive apparently outweighed whatever desire she had for the blond because she stayed where she was. Buttercup whined, and Jason scratched her ears once last time before he took off. He felt unsure of diving into a potential dangerous situation without a weapon, but it wouldn’t be the first time that he was at a major disadvantage. Hell, he would probably need six hands to count all the times that it was a miracle he got out alive.

The park was a fairly small one, with only a playground that consisted of a slide and some swings. The trees that surrounded it made it seem secluded though, like it was its only private spot away from the hustle and bustle of a major city. At first he assumed that maybe it was just some kids playing around that he heard, but it was way too silent now for that to be the case. Anyway, he was pretty sure that what he heard was an actual battle.

Could they have all run off in the time it took him to get here? It was certainly possible, especially considering he had to move slower than usual because of his entourage, yet something told him that wasn’t the case. He just had a gut feeling that whoever was here before hadn’t left. He breathed evenly through his nose, trying to not make any unnecessary noises that might draw unwanted attention to him. If anyone was going to be surprised, he wanted it to be the other party and not him.

After a few minutes of searching, Jason realized that if there was anyone here, he would have run into them by now. While there was a lot of coverage, the greenery wasn’t so thick that it would be the ideal hiding place. Giving up, he left the park and plopped down on a beach on the side of the road. There still wasn’t any traffic here; the police definitely had closed off the roads. He wondered how much further down he would have to go before reaching the road block.

And, right when he decided to head back to the other two, he saw them.

His friends looked like they had seen better days. All of them were ragged, with tears in their clothing and scratches littered around exposed skin. He couldn’t really tell from a distance, but Thalia’s hair appeared unnaturally uneven, although that might be some weird punk thing. They were walking back towards him, and every now and then one of them would cast an anxious glance backwards, as if they were concerned that they were being followed. They were so absorbed in conversation that they actually walked right past Jason and were headed to the park, but then they all froze at the same exact time and turned around.

“Jason!” Thalia gasped before flinging herself onto her brother. There was definitely less hair on the left side of her head than there was before, although that wasn’t saying much as she had kept it pretty short beforehand. “Gods, where the hell have you been?”

The others crowded around them, all talking at once and asking a million different questions. Nico went into an explanation about what they ran into while Hazel pointed at the large amount of blood on Jason’s clothing and freaked. Thalia kept telling them to shut up. Percy, however, kept quiet the whole time which was pretty weird considering the guy always had some clever quip to say at times like these. Instead, he would constantly look around them as if making sure they wouldn’t suddenly be ambushed. Just what exactly happened while Jason was gone?

When everyone finally calmed down, Jason broke into an explanation of what had happened to him when he got dragged into the ground. He kept the more personal details from his conversation with Aphrodite to himself, although Percy’s eyes narrowed suspiciously the moment he mentioned her name. When he got to the end of the story of how he followed a strange sound to the playground, Nico nodded.

“We were following the spiders and got into a fight with some of them there,” the younger demigod explained. “After you vanished, we couldn’t go after you right away because we had to keep fighting and protect the mortals. But then that nymph and Buttercup went down, and when Hazel tried going after them she was sort of… blocked? None of us could get through so we just kept fighting until some guy jumped out of it. Although now that we know, it was probably the same barrier that was stopping you from getting out.”

Jason frowned. “Some guy? But… oh. That was probably whoever grabbed me. He didn’t look like a spider, did he?”

Percy finally spoke. “He was cloaked, but I doubt it. The dude was definitely another demigod. The spiders all started following him when he took off, so we went after them. Although I guess one of us should have stayed at the hole and waited for you…”

He looked apologetic, and Jason knew that if Percy’s feelings for him hadn’t been taken away, he probably would have waited. The realization was rather disheartening. “It’s cool. I can take care of myself.”

“You shouldn’t have to though,” Hazel interrupted, still clearly displeased at how injured he had gotten. “We were put together in a quest for a reason. We protect each other.”

Trying not to blush at her kind words, he asked, “So, what happened? Did they get away?”

“We ran into a traffic jam. It was where the police were cutting off people from coming this way. They think it was a bomber, so they freaked when they saw us coming by. Probably thought we looked suspicious. Anyway, between the cops interrogating us and the crowd, we lost them.”

“We should move,” Thalia said. “If the cops find us here then they’ll definitely think we’re up to something. And I rather not stay somewhere the bad guys have already seen us at.”

“I dunno,” Percy grinned. “They can finish your haircut.”

Thalia punched him.

They all moved and eventually found a vacated Starbucks, which was probably the first time Jason had seen one of those empty. They settled down at the table furthest from the windows and hoped that with all the lights turned off, no one would be able to see them if they just happened to pass by. That shouldn’t be too likely though as the evacuation was still taking place.

Percy would not stop staring at Jason, and the blond knew it was because he was curious about what he and Aphrodite really talked about. It was starting to fluster him though, which was annoying. And anyway, the last time the two of them went off by themselves in a restaurant, they were attacked. Jason did not feel like having a repeat experience.

The demigods sat there for at least twenty minutes until they figured it was safe enough to step outside. They all agreed that they now had to go all the way back to Vegas, which was clearly unfortunate as they were on the other side of the country. Nico suggested shadow travel, and although the others were reluctant to do it, it was the fastest way back to the hotel and they were in a hurry. They just needed to gather more supplies before heading off.

They eventually found a store that was still open and were able to purchase some items. The cashier looked horrified at letting Jason in, though, and after a while he just stepped outside and allowed the others to buy him a new shirt. Unsurprisingly, it was Percy who came outside with it.

Jason changed out of his soiled top, although he was embarrassed to do so in front of the other teen. Percy had seen basically all of his body at this point, but now it was different. He was keenly aware of how much space was between them, of how Percy pointedly did his best to not look at Jason as he swapped clothes. He wondered if this was how it was going to be between him and Piper from now on as well. He hoped not.

“Are you going to tell me what happened back there?” Percy asked as soon as Jason had finished putting on the shirt. It was teal with an image of a Chihuahua with a comically enlarged head sipping a margarita. Jason wasn’t sure what any of that had to do with Florida, or why his friends very clearly chose the ugliest thing in the store to give him. Actually, he knew the answer to that last one.

“It’s exactly what I told you. She was trapped, and I never got to find out how exactly she ended up down there,” he explained, hoping he sounded casual. “She helped me get out of there and then I ran into Elmily and Buttercup. There’s not much to say.”

“Alright,” Percy replied. “Are you going to tell me what happened back there?”

Jason recalled how close Aphrodite’s face had been when she spoke to him. He hadn’t noticed it when he was with her, but now that he was speaking to Percy, he realized that her eyes had been a familiar shade of green throughout that conversation. He almost laughed at the ridiculousness of this whole situation. He wanted to go home.

“She did curse me,” he said, but then quickly added because Percy started to smile. “Sort of. I do like you, Jackson, but she made me act on it? I don’t know.”

“Oh.” The smile was gone, now replaced with confusion. “So, uh…”

“You didn’t feel anything when we kissed, right?”

Percy looked like he was hoping that would not come up in conversation. “Bro, look. You’re a great kisser, but… I didn’t feel the same way. I just don’t like you anymore. I’m sorry.”

“I can’t believe that’s the line you’re using to dump me,” Jason said incredulously. Okay, so they were never actually dating, but _come on._ Was this a Nicholas Sparks movie? Jason thought he deserved at least a less cliché line.

Percy gaped. “Is that really what you’re going to pick a fight about?!”

“No,” he replied, realizing what his real issue was. “No, you know what I am going to pick a fight about? That little deal you cut with Atë. That was sure nice of you to consider my feelings, pal. I’m really glad you’re so thoughtful, buddy. Annabeth sure is lucky with that catch.”

“Well, maybe if you had actually told me that you liked me for real, I wouldn’t have done that!” Percy shouted, startling a pack of tourists who already looked like they were ready to book the next flight out of there. “But nah, you just had to keep it a secret. What is with everyone and keeping everything a secret? And leave Annabeth out of this.”

Percy had a point there. Yet, Jason knew that he was right as well; Percy should not have taken that deal. Sure, it helped them get to where they needed to go and they found out who was responsible for all of this, but the price sucked. And Atë most likely did it just because she knew it was going to cause this much of a mess. Seriously, why couldn’t deities mind their own business? Jason wasn’t messing with their love lives. They could at least return the favor.

At that moment, the other three exited the store. Their arms were full of their purchases and they were chatting amongst themselves, but they all stopped once they noticed what kind of scene they walked in on.

“Having a lovers’ spat, are we?” Thalia sighed. She sounded like she had expected this.

“Don’t call it that,” Nico muttered, not looking at the two other boys.

“No, we’re done,” Jason said at the same exact time that Percy said, “Yes.” They glared at each other.

“I was just telling Jackson here that I think he made a bad move agreeing to come here,” Jason eventually said when it became evident that the subject wasn’t being dropped.

“And _I_ was telling my good friend Grace that he shouldn’t withhold information from the team.”

Jason snorted. “As if you weren’t doing the exact same thing **.”**

“I would suggest that we solve this with our swords but you dropped yours. Oops.”

“Can someone please explain to me what’s going on?” Hazel shouted.

Everyone’s mouths snapped closed at the sound of her voice. She had a sort of panicked look about her, like someone who was suddenly shoved into a stressful situation without any prior warning. And that kind of was what sort of happened. By now, Nico and Thalia both had a sort of understanding of what was going on. Hazel, on the other hand, had been dealing with all of this drama without any actual context whatsoever.

“Yeah,” Nico said. “Why don’t you explain it?”

He sat down on a bench and stared expectantly at the two other boys. Hazel immediately followed suit, sitting down next to her bother. Even though the two of them looked nothing alike, Jason thought that absolutely anyone walking by would be able to tell that they’re related at that moment. If this wasn’t being directed towards him, he would think their little showdown would be funny. Now it was just intimidating.

Thalia shrugged. “Before I would have been willing to let you keep this between you. But it’s obvious that this mess is tied to the quest, so you really should share with the rest of the class.”

Percy shot her a look of betrayal, but the Huntress just shrugged again, as if moving her shoulders in that manner absolved her from everything. She took the spot to Nico’s left.

What exactly were they supposed to say? Jason felt uncomfortable sharing about this particular detail of his life with others who weren’t involved. A part of him was scared that they would judge him for it, even though this was something that wasn’t truly in his power to control. He didn’t want this to form any type of rift between him and his friends; they had all been through so much together, and he truly wanted to believe that nothing would get in the way of their relationships with one another. But he knew how badly the gods’ interference could twist things.

And to his relief, as well as horror, Percy started talking first.

“To make a stupidly long story short, a little while ago Jason and I were on a quest and we upset Aphrodite. She, uh, kind of cursed us? To have… feelings? For each other?”

Nico scowled while Thalia nodded along. Hazel, though, appeared thoughtful. Jason wasn’t exactly sure what he expected her reaction to be—she was such good friends with the girls involved that he feared she would beat him with a diamond in indignation. Yet the expression on her face sort of reminded him of someone who just had their suspicions confirmed.

Percy continued. “But mine was lifted and Jason is still getting wooed by me every time the wind blows my hair really dramatically.”

“Wow, dude, thanks for the sensitivity.”

“Anything for you, bro,” Percy winked.                        

“That makes so much sense,” Hazel said, which made everyone stare at her. “I mean, you two have been acting really funny the whole quest. I was kind of suspicious when you were ignoring each other, since it reminded me of me and Frank whenever we get into a fight.”

Percy looked aghast. “I refuse to believe that my parents fight!”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner though?” she continued, ignoring him. “We could have helped. Maybe Piper could have convinced her mom to lift the curse.”

“She wouldn’t have,” Jason said. “And I know we should have told you guys, but it just felt so… weirdly personal, you know? We weren’t sure how you’d take it. I didn’t want everyone to start fighting with each other just because I kissed Percy once.”

“Or twice,” Nico and Thalia both muttered.

“And to be fair,” Percy cut in, “it’s not like this would be the first time someone from our little club has withheld information until the last possible second. When was the last time one of us has confessed to something immediately as it happened?”

No one raised their hand.

“At least we know who started this whole mess now,” Hazel said, breaking the silence. “I’m surprised that Atë was able to cause this much trouble though, even against the other gods. Who did she get to steal all of that stuff?”

“Probably one of her children,” Nico answered, and he somehow managed not to flinch at the angry glare Thalia shot at him. “Yes, I know this probably feels a little too familiar with the whole Luke thing. Honestly, it’s probably where she got the idea from in the first place. Why dirty her own hands when there are plenty of demigods to do the dirty work for you, after all.”

 

Thalia sighed. “I heard that Atë is actually pretty known for being a pain in the ass. I assume the gods probably did something to annoy her and that’s why she started stealing from them. You know how they all are.”

At this point, Jason did not really care about any of that. He just wanted to end this quest and get back to his life—or whatever was left of it. He was probably going to end up with gray hairs early in life because of how much stress this whole ordeal has given him. He honestly could not believe that his love life was easier back when he had no memory of dating his girlfriend.

He also felt terrible about letting his personal issues get in the way of his job. Yeah, this mess was now tied to the quest like the others said, but that just made it worse.

“Let’s get back to Nevada,” he said, hoping to hurry this whole thing along. He no longer wanted to be in Miami. “I think it’s time we repaid Atë for all the help she gave us.”

They all nodded and started to gather all of their belongings for their journey. While Jason tossed his old shirt in a nearby trashcan, Percy walked up to him. For a second he feared that their argument was about to continue, but all Percy did was place a hand on the other teen’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

“I really am sorry,” he muttered. “You didn’t deserve that.”

Jason managed to smile. “None of us deserve half of the crap that gets thrown at us. But we live.”

Percy smiled back. “Yeah, we do.”

And as they all crowded together to shadow travel to their final destination, Jason suddenly remembered that Elmily and Buttercup were still waiting for him to come back. He tried to tell his friends to wait, but they were already moving, blending into the darkness, and gone. He wondered if anyone else was going to be left behind on this quest **.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! you can find me on [tumblr](http://haruhara.tumblr.com/) if you wanna yell at me and stuff.


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